


Stormbird

by Judin



Category: One Piece
Genre: Angst, Animal Death, Davy Back Fight, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, One Piece Big Bang 2016
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-01
Updated: 2016-05-01
Packaged: 2018-06-05 03:22:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 70,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6687145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Judin/pseuds/Judin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Straw Hats' first landing in the New World is on Arashi Island, where it looks like they'll be spending a fun week attending the local festival and making new friends. Until they spot a strange pirate ship in the harbour, and Sanji starts behaving oddly. The Straw Hats become entangled with the mysterious Gently Pirates, a crew that harbour many secrets, and whose captain is a man out of Sanji's past who has the power to tear the Straw Hat crew apart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the One Piece Big Bang 2016.
> 
> My friend Flaggermousse and I signed up together, and she has created **some amazing art** ( **[One](http://flaggermousseart.tumblr.com/post/143656357752/for-op-big-bang-2016-stormbird-fanfiction) | [Two](http://flaggermousseart.tumblr.com/post/143656425947/for-op-big-bang-2016-stormbird-fanfiction)** ) for our project. She is also the reason this story is actually finished. From the beginning, when I needed help on the original characters, I would go to her and ask her to sketch them for me, and her drawings would inevitably change how I saw them (like when I asked her for an old lady pirate, she drew two versions, and I loved them both so much I split the character in two). She betaed for me, and the story is much, much better for it, and our lengthy discussions solved many of the problems I faced while building the plot. Whenever I felt stuck, I would look at her art, and find new inspiration. So you guys had better go check out her art at her tumblr, and give it a like and a reblog if you can, because she has gone above and beyond for me and deserves all the love we can give her.
> 
> The lovely chapter header masks (which will return when I find a new hosting site) are of course also hers.

 

 

There was something endearing about the boy: his precocious manners, his care-free attitude, that odd, swirling eyebrow. She'd been unnerved at first when he came twirling up to her table like a possessed ballet dancer, bread and butter precariously balanced on his fingertips, but he'd mellowed out when she'd let him know that she was married ... and also old enough to be his mother.

"Women are like wine," he had said, this ... what, sixteen year old boy? "Age merely accentuates their beauty."

Rica had not laughed at him, though she had wanted to. "Up to a certain point perhaps," she had replied instead, sipping her hot coffee to hide her smile.

She had been forced to adjust her amused first impression of him later, though, when she asked him to recommend her something from the menu; he knew every single dish and the details of how they were made. Even the origins of the various ingredients and how they were stored and prepared were ready on the tip of his tongue.

"You're not really a waiter," she guessed.

He shook his head and gave her a proud little bow. "I'm Sanji, the Sous-chef of the Baratie."

She did laugh then, in sheer delight. "This place is mad. You're the sous-chef, you say? How old are you, kid?"

His cheeks grew red. "I'm seventeen," he said defensively.

"Hey." She smiled at him. "I believe you; you really know your stuff. I'm even gonna let you order for me." She handed him the menu with a wink. "Get me something good."

He gave her another glowing bow, happiness restored. "Of course, my lady. Enjoy your coffee and I'll return with your starter."

Rica watched him go. A sensitive boy, she guessed, much like her own son.

Thinking of Allie gave her a bittersweet pang of happiness. Maybe she should have brought him with her after all? She shook her head at herself. No, he needed to focus on his studies, and Headquarters wouldn't have paid for his trip the way they were paying for hers. All she had to do was stop by the HQ of the 153rd Marine Branch on her way home. There was a rumour going that the officer in charge, Captain "Axe-hand" Morgan, was abusing his power. It shouldn't take long to investigate the matter. That was over a week from now, though. First, she was going to Dawn Island for her vacation.

Though how relaxing it would be, between her big sis, the rest of the bandits, and the little monkey they had adopted, Rica wasn't so sure. Of course, that little monkey would be a teenager by now, wouldn't he, and he had already experienced his share of troubles, according to big sister's letters. Rica looked forward to meeting the boy who had melted the heart of that tough mountain bandit.

Sanji returned with a shrimp pâté and cucumber salad, both of which turned out to be much more exciting than they had any right to be. He also brought a bottle of wine.

"We have a range of non-alcoholic beverages too, if duty doesn't permit wine," he said as he showed her the label.

She was wearing her captain's uniform, with the long jacket draped over the back of her chair, and should be easily recognisable as a marine officer. "Oh no, I'm on vacation. Fill it up."

He poured her a generous glass, and waited while she tasted it. The wine went excellently with the pâté. She studied him.

"Does this happen often then?"

He cocked his head to the side. "Pardon?"

She gestured to him and the room. There was only one other waiter in sight, a tall, pale young man with heavy-lidded eyes.

"Oh, you mean the waiters leaving?" He shrugged. "Yeah. We seem to run out every few months."

"Why?"

He opened his mouth to reply only to be interrupted by the sound of plates breaking. A commotion was starting near the kitchen entrance; one of the cooks looked to be arguing with a rough-looking customer.

"That's why," Sanji said. "If you'll excuse me, I'll leave you to enjoy your meal."

And he was off, stalking towards the brawl on his long, gangly legs. Rica was just considering going to help out, when Sanji took a running start and launched himself feet first into the fighting pair.

"YOU'RE DISTURBING A LADY'S MEAL, YOU SHITHEADS!"

Alright then. Rica enjoyed her starter immensely, and the show wasn't bad either. Another plate sailed through the air, followed by a salt shaker and some cutlery.

"Look out!" Sanji cried as an enthusiastically launched pepper shaker came straight at Rica. She remained undisturbed, just held up a finger. The shaker hit her fingertip and shot right back the way it had come, hitting the big cook in the back of the head.

"Very nice, my lady!" Sanji complimented her before diving back into the brawl.

A few minutes later the rude customer sailed head first out of the door with an imprint of Sanji's foot in his backside. Sanji and the other cook disappeared into the kitchen, loudly bickering about who's fault this was.

So he wasn't quite like her Allie then. No such temperament there. Rica sighed, toying idly with the pendant around her neck. At least Raphael was taking his vacation at home, so he and Allie could have some father-son time.

The last bit of cucumber salad was gone along with the warm, crispy bread, and Sanji had returned with a bump the size of an egg on his head. "May I take..." He trailed off as he caught sight of her necklace. For some reason it seemed to make him uncomfortable. Seeing that she had caught him staring, he covered it up with a quick smile. "That's a lovely necklace."

Rica smiled and held it out for him to inspect, letting the lie go. The pendant was a small, carved albatross in flight, hung on a black string. "It's the symbol of my island; they sell it in every shop, but my son gave me this one, so it's special." He admired it for a moment more, which gave her a chance to look at the knock he'd taken to the skull. "What happened to you?"

He rubbed his head with a wince. "The Head Chef. Don't worry about it. May I take your plate?" She sat back with her wine glass in hand and let him gather up the used dishes. Whatever had made him pause, he did not appear to want to discuss it.

The other waiter shuffled past them with a tray full of drinks. Rica wondered if she only imagined the way Sanji stiffened.

"I want to apologise for the commotion earlier," he said suddenly, as if seizing a lifeline. "You shouldn't have been involved."

She shrugged. "I've caught a lot of bullets in my time. Doesn't even sting."

"So it _was_ a devil fruit power, then?" he asked, trying and failing to hide his enthusiasm.

"Mhm. My crew calls me Ricochette. Anything that comes at me, I can send flying."

Sanji smiled hugely, eyes turning into hearts. "You're so amazing!"

The main course was grilled sea king basted in a maple syrup, garlic and pepper sauce. Rica actually had to hold on to the table for a moment as the harmonic tastes exploded on her tongue. She would definitely have to eat here on the way back too. Sanji skipped joyfully back to the kitchen to give the cooks her compliments.

As dinner progressed she fell to talking with the elderly couple at the neighbouring table. Takechi and Hitomi were natives of East Blue, but had travelled extensively in their youth, including to the Grand Line, and on realising that Rica was from the New World, they became full of questions.

By the time Sanji brought the cherry panna cotta dessert, they had put their tables together and were deep in conversation. The other waiter came to help Sanji clear the couple's dinner, and Rica definitely did not imagine the painful tension between the two of them. The boy, a little older than Sanji by her estimate, caught her eyes once. They were sharp under his sleepy lids. He was smiling to himself as he trailed Sanji back to the kitchen.

Sanji brought the elderly couple matching desserts on the house, filled up their coffee cups, and bowed his way out.

"Tell me, Rica," Takechi asked. "Did you travel alone all the way from the New World? Wasn't it dangerous?"

She licked cherry sauce from her spoon. "My job is always dangerous, but I can take care of myself."

Hitomi was nodding. "We saw, we saw, it was very interesting. It's almost like magic, those devil fruit abilities. ... But isn't it difficult to live with, dear? If nothing can touch you."

Rica shook her head. "I've learned to control it. It only works if I'm prepared."

"But you can't swim," Takeshi said. "It must be quite a sacrifice."

Rica thought of Allie and Raphael swimming off the coast of Arashi Island, diving into the waves while the seabirds cried their outrage overhead. She could only watch, never join them. And yet ... "With my ability, I can protect people. I leave my son behind and go to sea for months at the time, but at least I can promise him that I will return. I don't regret my choice."

It was getting late by the time the couple excused themselves. Rica paid for her meal, leaving a generous tip, promised Sanji she'd stop by again on her way back, threw her coat on and headed out on deck. The sun was going down in a sea of fire, beautiful to behold, but above, the first stars were already out to steer by. She had a little boat waiting, and knew an island nearby where she would find a hotel for the night. She was climbing down into the boat when someone called her name from above.

"Captain Rica?"

"That's me."

"There's a call for you."

A call? She climbed back up and found the other waiter standing there in the near-dark. Half of his face was painted red by the setting sun, and his eyes glittered like the sea. He still wore his waiter's uniform, and had a towel slung carelessly over his shoulder.

"A call from who?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, Captain, I was only told to fetch you." His words were respectful, but his tone was lazy. "Something about a message from HQ."

If the message had travelled that far, it must be urgent, which explained the strange timing. Was something wrong? With the mission? With her family?

The young man was regarding her silently, waiting.

"Lead the way," she said, heart already beating faster, though she told herself she was being silly; it was probably nothing, just some bagatelle regarding the mission. They were alright, of course they were alright.

He took her to a staircase leading below deck.

"The boss thought you should take the call below, for privacy," he said as he preceded her down the stairs and through a door into a low corridor. "It's just over here."

He stopped in front of a heavy steel door, and Rica waited impatiently as he turned the big, wheeled handle, with the towel wrapped around his hand for protection. A bolt inside came free with a heavy clang, and the door swung open just a little, emitting a wave of icy air.

Quick as lightning, the boy grabbed her throat with the towel, a knife flashing in his other hand, a single, deep slash, and it was over. She looked at him, mouth working helplessly, pain spreading up and down her throat, blood running down onto the towel. A chill stole through her fingertips and up her arms. Through the open door she could see a freezer room. She couldn't breathe.

"There now. It's almost over."

She tried to make a sound, to scream, but her mouth was full of blood.

He smiled, slow and cat-like. The yellow lamp-light woke his eyes the same way the sunlight had, and in them she saw herself go down in a sea of red. She sank to the floor in his arms. He hushed her as she choked. Gently, he lifted her pendant from around her neck and over her head. She tried to reach for it, but the cold had numbed her body.

Ricochette could repel anything. If she saw it coming.

 _Allie_ , she thought as she faded. _Allie, my darling, I'm sorry._


	2. Chapter 2

 

Sanji climbed the ladder to the crow's nest with his eyes closed. His head was throbbing dully. It was just stress, he told himself; stress and poor sleep. No wonder with all the crazy happening lately. The reunion on Sabaody, the descent to Fishman Island, overcoming excessive blood loss, the fight against Hody Jones and his men, and finally the Straw Hat crew's triumphant entrance into the New World. Were there calm seas ahead? Not very fucking likely.

He almost bumped his head on the hatch. As he fumbled for the handle, he could hear metallic jangling and low grunts from above, which meant Zoro was working out on watch, and that was the last thing Sanji needed right now.

Rightly enough, when he stuck his head through the hole, he was struck by the scent of Zoro's sweat that filled the musty room. He climbed up with his sleeve over his nose. "Damn it, you muscle-brained moron, how many times have I told you to air this place out before..." He trailed off, mouth going dry. Zoro was topless, chest glistening in the lamp-light, arms bulging with the strain of keeping the gigantic weights lifted. His bare, white feet were planted firmly on the floor, and his black trousers hugged his hips tightly.

Sanji swallowed, and tasted the salt of sweat on the air.

"What do you want?" Zoro asked rudely.

"It's my watch, stupid, so get out."

"I wanna train."

"It's the middle of the fucking night!"

Zoro shrugged and resumed his lifting. "Then you can go back to bed. You don't look so good."

It struck something sore and foolish inside Sanji. Idiot, idiot. He reached for anger and lashed out, foot hitting the barbell that Zoro swung in defence. The impact sent shockwaves up Sanji's leg and made Zoro grit his teeth.

"Get. the hell. out, Zoro!"

For a long moment they remained locked, Zoro's single eye boring into Sanji and making it hard to breathe.

"Che." Zoro stepped back, upper lip curling. "Fine. Have your watch." He turned away, put the barbell carefully on its rack, picked up his swords, red sash and overcoat, and headed for the open hatch. "Try not to fall asleep, idiot cook." He stepped off easily, landing with a thump on the deck below.

As soon as he was gone, Sanji stumbled over to the bench and almost fell onto it in his haste to open a window. He breathed deeply of the night air to get rid of the heady, overwhelming scent of Zoro's body and Zoro's strength, and pressed the heel of his hand hard against his throbbing cock to relieve its aching.

Fuck. How could this be happening?

He was just frustrated. All those beautiful, willing mermaids and not a single kiss. How had he missed that train? That was it. Frustrated. But even now, the lovely mermaids' smiling faces melted away in favour of Zoro's silent frown.

When they'd been reunited on Sabaody, Sanji had been ... shocked. Zoro had come back _big_ , and fuck if it didn't make Sanji's cock jump. He bit his sleeve and squeezed his growing erection, moaning at the ready pleasure that sprung from the touch.

Zoro had always been strong, but now that moss-headed, directionally challenged dork radiated power, and Sanji wanted to be-

He smashed his forehead against the window frame so hard he saw stars, staggered back from the bench and fished determinedly through his pockets for his cigarettes. Felt blood trickle down even as he struggled to work the lighter.

Never, never, never. Black Leg Sanji was for the ladies, always had been, always would be.

He inhaled a lungful of calming smoke and sank back down on the bench, rubbing his tired eyes. His head was throbbing worse than ever now. After a moment he pulled his knees up, making himself small to keep the relentless thing inside him from growing any bigger. It mustn't show. It would ruin everything. This crew, this band of friends that had gone through countless adventures together, become a family ... it would break them apart for sure. Nothing would be the same if he ... But he would never.

 _He'll never want you anyway_ , he thought. _So all you have to do is stay silent._ In time, these feelings would fade, and he'd be right again.

Sanji tipped his head back out of the open window and blew a long stream of smoke into the night.

It was a long watch.

The New World was no less weird and wonderful than the first half of the Grand Line, but the first island they found seemed quite peaceful. The land rose in steep, craggy hills out of the foaming sea, dense green moss and rough fir and pine clung to the rock, and large seabirds nested on the sheer mountain walls. There was something cold about this island, an extra chill in the sea spray on the wind, but the Thousand Sunny sailed into its climate zone in summer, and even on an autumn island that was a warm and bright season.

They hadn't seen any towns as of yet, but figured it wouldn't hurt to anchor off the coast somewhere and go ashore discreetly. Being the closest island to the Red Line, this place probably saw a lot of travellers, no doubt many of them pirates, but that didn't mean the locals were friendly.

"Alright, who wants to explore?" Nami asked, sizing them up like a general assessing her troops.

Luffy's arm shot up into the air immediately. "Me! Me! I wanna explore!"

Robin was looking out over the island with anticipation clear on her beautiful face. "It's so lovely. I wouldn't mind taking a closer look."

"Me too!" Chopper jumped up and hung from the railing next to her. "I wanna stretch my legs."

Franky on the other hand, elected to stay for now. "I'm gonna look Sunny over. Bubble or no, it was a rough trip to the surface. There might be some damage."

"I'll help Franky," Usopp shouted down from his place at the helm.

Sanji considered his options. He could stay here and watch Franky and Usopp coo at the Sunny, or he could join his angels on land.

"I'll go ashore with you, Nami-swan, Robin-chwan! If we meet anything dangerous, I can protect you."

"They don't need your protection anymore, nose-bleed man."

Sanji bared his teeth.

Zoro was stretched out in the grass like a lazy tiger with his hands behind his head. He yawned and sat up. "But I guess it's more interesting than staying here. I'll come too."

Nami nodded decisively. "Then, Sanji-kun, will you find out what supplies we need? If we find a market we can get some shopping done."

"Yes, Nami-swan!" Sanji pulled his lower eyelid down and stuck his tongue out at Zoro, who ignored him, the fucker. Then he skipped up to the kitchen to check his stock.

Brook, who had been occupied in the little skeleton's room, chose to stay onboard, and so the parties were decided. Luffy, Nami, Robin, Chopper, Sanji and the stupid swordsman would go ashore and take a look around.

They were lucky enough to find what looked like a seasonal fishing spot with a pier where they could dock, meaning they didn't have to use the Mini Merry to reach land. The hillside was dotted with little fishing huts, but they were all empty, their windows dark and their paint flaking.

Nor did the crew meet anyone as they made their way up the road, though it looked like it had seen frequent use.

The road went through a deep cleft in the hill, and wound inland like a river. The landscape rose and fell like waves. They walked through an old green wood, where lichen grew on every rock, and hardly a bird broke the silence. Shafts of sunlight came through the canopy here and there, creating glittering, green fairy courts in hollows, but the road was broad and well-kept, leading the party steadily north-westward and up.

Sanji made up the rear, and so had ample opportunity to study his nakama as they talked and laughed together.

He would often step out of the kitchen while the potatoes boiled or the oven heated, to observe the crew at their tasks, finding a surprisingly powerful joy in watching Usopp and Luffy fishing with their legs dangling over the side, Robin and Chopper reading together, Nami surrounded by her maps in the sun, Brook practising the tuba, and Franky whistling at the helm. They were his family (and of course he would always enjoy watching his ladies being their gorgeous selves).

He knew that people became more beautiful to you as you got to know and love them, and he did know them, and love them, and they were beautiful to him, each in their own way. Luffy with his soft, jet black hair and ready smile. Chopper with his button nose and innocent eyes. Robin, every inch a lady, graceful and deadly, secretive and sweet.

Robin, who had chosen Franky. Sanji knew that was fine.

Nami swept her long hair over her shoulder, an act that never failed to make Sanji thrill inside. He knew exactly how many freckles were scattered over those sun-burned shoulders, knew the shape of the scar that spoke of her suffering and her strength. The curve of her hips, her long, strong legs, the wrinkly skin on her elbows, every part of her was committed to his memory, and deeply dear to him.

But she was also ... not his. It felt like the more he tried to reach for her, the further away she seemed to be.

They broke through a waterfall of sunlight across the path, so that each of them was for a moment bathed in gold, and Sanji choked on desire as dappled light fell over Zoro's neck. Once caught, his eyes were tethered helplessly to that broad back. Zoro's steady hand on Wado's hilt made Sanji's heart stutter, Zoro's thighs outlined through his overcoat as he walked made Sanji's stomach clench. Zoro's earrings jingled as he threw his head back and laughed, and Sanji's head spun.

He couldn't take this anymore. It was all wrong! He kicked off hard into the air and sky walked up, up, up through the leaves until he broke out above the trees.

"Hey! Cheater!" Luffy shouted from below.

"Hang on, Sanji-kun! What's the hurry?" Nami called.

Sanji let the sunlight blind his treacherous eyes. _Control yourself!_ How could he even be aware of an ugly moss-head when he was walking behind two angels?

"Do you see anything, Sanji?" Robin's soothing voice.

He opened his eyes and saw the forest rising up a tall hill a couple of miles ahead. The road came out at the top and continued down the other side. They'd probably be able to see most of the island from there. Whatever settlements were around, that hilltop would reveal them.

He breathed deeply of the clear air, steeled himself, and fell back down through the trees, landing some distance ahead of the others.

"You're so cool, Sanji," Chopper said, running to meet him. "I wish I could fly too!"

"Who says you can't?" Sanji caught him up and swung him up into the air, setting him down on his shoulders.

"Ua, Sanji! I'm too old to ride on your shoulders! I've got my pride as a man, okay?" Angry little reindeer hooves rained down on Sanji's head. Bonk, bonk, bonk.

"Oi, oi, quit it, Chopper. It's not my fault you're small and cute."

Bonk, bonk, bonk. "~That's doesn't make me happy, bastard!"

The rest of the crew caught up, and Sanji told them about the big hill they would soon be climbing. They reached it a little while later.

Once the terrain had become properly steep, Zoro reached up and took hold of Chopper.

"Time to come down, Chopper. You can walk on your own." He put the reindeer back on the ground.

Sanji turned with a snarl. Interfering moss-head. "Why do you get to decide that, huh?"

"You shouldn't coddle him," Zoro countered. "He's not a little kid."

"You're just jealous."

_Nothing I do is ever good enough for you, is it?_

"It's okay, Sanji." Chopper smiled up at him, holding the straps of his little backpack. "I can walk."

Sanji fought to smile back. "I know you can." Why was everything so hard now? Why couldn't he just let things go anymore?

Zoro and Chopper went on, and Sanji let them, taking up the rear again, but keeping his eyes firmly on the ground.

The road was broad and flat, and zigzagged up the hillside. It took them some fifteen minutes before they emerged into the open, cresting the rise all of a sudden, and looking down on a large harbour and township. The harbour was flanked by the hills and two long limbs of land thrust out into the sea, forming a large inlet. The path plunged back into the forest that lay like a cloak all about the hill, but would presumably come out in the valley below and continue into town.

“Guys, look at that.” Luffy pointed to the water.

Apparently there had been no need for them to hide the Sunny, for down there in the harbour, nestled in amongst a dozen other ships of different size and colour, lay another pirate vessel, and no little dingy either; it was almost as big as old fox face’s ship, and the black flag waved for all to see. They couldn't make out the symbol from here, but the prow was adorned with what looked like a large white bird.

“It doesn't look familiar,” Nami-san said slowly. “We’d better be careful.” Of course Luffy was already on his way down the pale, winding path. Nami ran after him. “Hey! Luffy, wait!”

The others followed leisurely.

“What is it, Nami?” Luffy complained, only stopping when she grabbed both his shoulders and steered him around. “I wanna go down there. Maybe they have meat.”

Sanji rapped his knuckled against Luffy’s forehead. “You ate lunch an hour ago, Captain. Restrain yourself a little. I’ll make you dinner when we get back.”

Luffy looked torn. “Sanji does make the best food, but … I’m hungry now.”

“More importantly,” Nami-san interrupted, her hands on her lovely hips. “We don't know what to expect from these crazy waters, but any pirate crew who made it here from Fishman Island is bound to be strong.” She pinched Luffy’s cheek. “So let's try not to get into trouble, okay? We behave ourselves.” Her stern eyes swept across them all. “Okay?”

“Yes, Nami-swan!” Sanji sang.

Zoro rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Just watch Luffy.”

Despite his cheek being clutched in Nami’s fist still, Luffy had continued down the path with a renewed spring in his step.

“LET’S GO FIND SOME MEAT!”

“Luffy!”

Zoro grinned and followed. “And booze.”

“Zoro!”

They followed the road back into the shelter of the trees, and by the time they came out on the other side, they were on the outskirts of town.

The wind carried with it the sound of metal striking metal; the rhythmic, reassuring sound of a hammer and anvil, and around the next bend, the party found a small yard sprawled between three sturdy little houses, one of which looked to be a forge. The other two was a large red barn and a quaint cottage with moss on the roof. In front of the barn, a skinny, long-haired beauty was busy grooming an old horse.

Sanji felt a burst of warm excitement rise from his toes to his head. "Oh sweet mountain blossom!" He danced across the yard, spinning in pure joy. "What fortuitous winds have blown me to your shore." Ah, to find one's purpose again. This was what he was made for, to worship at the feet of lovely maidens, to bring them joy and safeguard them from harm. "Your beauty makes all the hardships of the journey worth it.”

Startled, the nymph turned around. It was a boy.

Sanji fell flat on his face, his whole head red with hot embarrassment. This was not his day.

“Don’t mind this dumbass,” Zoro said, and Sanji felt the tip of his boot nudging his butt. “He’s confused, but mostly harmless.”

Sanji was up in a second and pelting Zoro with a barrage of kicks. “Who’re you calling dumbass, dumbass?”

“You, you dumbass.” Zoro drew his swords. Sanji ducked a slash, fell into a roundhouse kick that Zoro jumped over, and rose up again to block a downward swing with the sole of his shoe.

“You’re a dumbass!”

“Double-dumbass!”

A whistling wind warned them, and they jumped apart just in time to avoid the projectile that crashed into the gravel between them. It was a hammer.

“Allie, what’s going on out here?”

“Don’t worry, Aunty, they’re friends.”

The boy, Allie, came walking over with Nami, Luffy, Robin and Chopper.

It really was unfair; how could a boy be so feminine looking? He had large brown eyes with long lashes, a pointy little nose bridged by freckles, and long red hair braided over his shoulder.

“Cook!” Zoro said with mock astonishment. “You were right; he is a beautiful little mountain flower.”

“DIE!”

Nami’s fists of love descended on their heads with power and precision. “Behave yourselves, I said,” she reminded them through gritted teeth.

Raucous laughter. In the doorway to the stone house stood a big muscular woman with short-cropped, curly auburn hair and the heat of the forge glistening on her upper lip. She wore a leather apron over a stained white dress and sturdy shoes. “Why didn’t you say we had company, Allie? I would have aimed better.” She came over to pick up the very large hammer, giving Zoro and Sanji a bloodthirsty grin as she did so. They paled respectfully. Powerhouses of the Grand Line they might be, but no boy could fail to be intimidated by a maternal woman. With a hammer.

“Now.” She pointed the hammer at Luffy. “Who are you and what do you want with our Allie?”

The boy flushed. “Aunty, don’t you know-”

“Let him answer for himself.”

Luffy was, for some reason, grinning from ear to ear. “I’m Luffy. I’m gonna be king of the pirates. Nice to meet you, Aunty.”

"And we don't want to do anything to your Allie," Nami added quickly. Sanji nodded a lot.

Allie blushed and why did he have to look so cute, dammit! Sanji pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Sanji, are you okay?" Chopper was already fishing cotton balls and tape out of his backpack.

"I'M FINE!"

"Monkey D. Luffy, huh," Allie's aunt said. "We were wondering when you would show up here on Arashi."

And that was how they met Allie and his aunt, Mara.

"You've come from Fishman Island?"

Mara and Luffy had sat down in the grass to talk. Zoro was already snoring with his back against the barn wall. Robin and Sanji remained with Luffy, Sanji having a smoke.

Nami was helping Allie groom the old piebald horse. Chopper was feeding it hay and conversing with it.

Luffy was still grinning like an idiot. "We've come all the way from the East Blue to find the One Piece."

Mara nodded. "Yeah, you and every other pirate on the five seas. Most of the good ones stop by here, and quite a few of the bad ones too. I look forward to seeing what kind you are."

Luffy sat cross-legged with his hands on his ankles, rocking back and forth like an excited kid. "Did I mention we're from the East Blue?"

"You did." She was smiling to herself, but her eyes were keen and narrowed. She glanced up at Sanji. "Got a cigarette to share there, lover boy?"

Sanji choked on smoke and had to cough, but held out his packet. She pinched a cig with soot-stained fingers. Once his chest was clear, he got out his lighter and lit it for her.

She pulled the smoke in deep and exhaled with great satisfaction. "These are good. Better than the cheap crap from Ethel's store."

Robin was splayed out like a goddess in the hot sunshine, and was slowly fanning herself with her white sunhat. Her face was quite serious, though. "Ma'am, what did you mean when you said you were waiting for Luffy to come here?"

Mara shrugged and flicked ashes onto the grass. "This place gets newspapers same as any other. We figured you'd have to stop here eventually. You're big news, you know. The whole world is following your adventures."

Robin cocked her head to the side. "I see," she said.

"Aunty." Allie came over and bent over Mara, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. "You could trust them more, you know. We know they're good people."

Mara grumbled, but the kiss clearly pleased her. "I don't trust tall tales and hearsay. I'll watch with my own eyes and make up my own mind, thank you very much."

"You're not fans of the World Government, then?" Robin asked, her intellect as keen and piercing as always.

Sanji blew smoke hearts and wiggled happily.

"You're Nico Robin, right?" Mara asked in turn. "Should I take the papers' word for your character, do you think, last demon of Ohara?"

"HEY!" Sanji's spine stiffened. "Don't talk to Robin-chwan like that, old woman!"

Robin's expression grew guarded.

"No, no, Sanji, Robin, it's alright." Luffy's mood was entirely undisturbed. He leaned his head back, one hand on his hat, and grinned into the sun, scrunching up his nose. "We're safe here." He laughed towards Mara. "Aunty is a good person, a really good person."

Mara's mouth fell open. "Wha-. You ... Don't judge me based on someone else, you brat!"

"Shishishi."

Sanji had no idea what Luffy was on about, but the Captain's instinct was rarely wrong, so if he said the old woman was a friend then ... well she'd better not insult Robin-chan again, but as long as she didn't, Sanji had no problem with her.

"Luffy-san," Allie said. "I believe you were on your way to town."

"Uh-huh. We're looking for meat."

"Supplies, Luffy," Nami reminded him from over by the horse. "Supplies."

"That's what I said."

Allie chuckled, the sound as gentle as his speech. He seemed so shy.

"I'm heading down there myself. I can give you a bit of a tour if you'd like."

"That would be great!"

"Then please wait for me while I clean up and get my things." He hurried off and disappeared into the cottage.

"Um, Mara-san?" Nami came over with Chopper. The horse was happily munching on its straw. "How long does it take for the log poses to set?"

"Four days, usually." She put the stump of her cigarette out in the grass, but kept it in her hand to throw away later. Sanji, following her lead, put his back in the packet, once he was sure it was properly out.

"Four days, huh."

Mara nodded. "But you came at a good time; we're in the middle of an annual festival. It started yesterday, and it'll carry on all week, so you'll have plenty to see and do while you're here."

"Awesome!" Chopper spun around happily. "Do you think they have cotton candy? You have to have cotton candy at a festival, right?"

Mara looked bemusedly at Chopper. "Just when you think you've seen it all ..."

Luffy's eyes had begun to glitter in a way that suggested he was thinking about outdoor grills and festival food. Even Nami was biting her lip on a happy grin, though, and she and Robin were exchanging those "we're women and we have plans" type looks. But a few days of shopping, games and music would be good for all of them. In fact, for Sanji it usually meant less work, as the crew would eat out more, and that was fine, as long as they didn't become too fond of it.

Allie reappeared a little later in fresh clothes and with a backpack slung over his shoulder. "I'm ready."

Mara got up and beat the dirt off her backside and thighs. "Alright. When are you on tonight again?"

"At eight, unless it's delayed."

"It's always delayed, but I'll be there at eight." Mara nudged Allie's cheek gently with her coarse knuckles. "Go get 'em."

Allie glowed happily. "I will."

One last time, Mara turned to Luffy. "So. Monkey D. Luffy. I'm entrusting my Allie to you."

Allie glowed for a different reason. "Aunty!"

"You won't let me down, will you?"

Luffy shrugged, mischievous like a little brat. "You'll have to decide that for yourself."

Allie apparently decided he'd had enough of being embarrassed in front of his new friends. He grabbed Luffy by the hand and started dragging him away towards the road. The others hurried after.

Luffy waved. "See you, Aunty!"

Mara waved to them.

"I feel like we're forgetting something," Nami said as they once again took the path into town.

"Nothing we can't leave behind," Sanji muttered.

"AH! Zoro!" Chopper quickly turned back. "I'll go get him!"

Zoro was still asleep in Mara's yard. Sanji enjoyed the peace and quiet and walking between his Robin-chan and Nami-swan.

"Are you taking part in the festival tonight, Allie?" Robin asked as their pace slowed and became more leisurely.

Allie nodded, worming his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "I sing a little, so I was asked to perform tonight. I'm supposed to meet the band in town for the final practice session."

As they walked, they began to meet people, and houses sprang up around them, until they had left field and forest behind altogether. These houses were made of stone or coarse wood, squat and sensible. The gardens were full of shrubs and bushes in bright colours, and beds edged with white or pink stone. No delicate flowers here.

Allie was greeted by people left and right, and though there were plenty of curious stares for the Straw Hats, everyone seemed friendly enough. They would be used to strangers, of course, as most of the ships ascending from Fishman Island would stop by here, but Sanji suspected Allie's presence was a ticket into the locals' hearts. His manner was meek and innocent still, but Sanji thought he detected an inner strength in him, something darker and more passionate than his shyness first suggested.

“Hey, Allie," someone shouted, "who’re your friends?”

Nami and Robin shared a loaded glance, and Sanji was thinking the same thing. _You know who we are._ Luffy for one was becoming too infamous not to recognise.

“Aaah, this place is so peaceful!” Luffy stretched, and folded his hands behind his head, sighing luxuriously.

Allie smiled, but there was shadow behind it. “It’s a peaceful day, but life here can be plenty exciting.”

Nami cocked her head to the side. “You mean because of the ships that come here? Do you have a lot of trouble with all the pirates?”

Allie didn’t answer immediately. A gull cried out overhead: a strange, melancholy sound.

"No. Well, recently maybe. Some. Most are too tired from the journey through the Red Line to cause much of a stir, but ..." His shoulders rose as if warding off unpleasant memories.

"Recently?" Nami-san prodded gently.

Allie looked back at them, considering. Then he appeared to make a decision. "You see, until a couple of years ago, this island was protected by Captain Whitebeard."

Luffy's hands fell down to his sides. "Oh."

"We're not helpless, we never were, but the New World is ruled by the four Emperors; in waters as stormy as these, it never hurts to have a friend." He sounded like he was quoting someone else.

"Is that why part of the island is abandoned?" Robin wondered. "We saw the empty huts on the south side."

Allie nodded. "There were raids, almost a year ago now. No one wants to live so far from the centre of the island anymore. This town is the only harbour town left."

Sanji had a thought. "You're so close to the Red Line, though. Can't the World Government protect you?"

"I guess they would have, if we had asked them to." Allie actually grinned a little over his shoulder, and Sanji really wished the boy would look less lovely because it was messing him up. Where were Chopper and Pirate Hunter Zero anyway?

"Didn't you?" And why the past tense?

Allie's mouth twisted in a grimace. "This is all politics and stuff; I'm not the best person to explain it. I know Father appealed to the island elders lots of times, but they were still considering their options." He saw their confused expressions and clarified. "My father is in the Navy. He's a captain."

"Really?" Luffy grinned a lopsided grin. "Then he's gotta be pretty strong, huh?"

Allie nodded proudly. "I've always thought so."

Nami's beautiful, brown eyes were large and surprised. "But ... is it okay for you to hang out with pirates like us, then?"

"I just told you this island was protected by Whitebeard. Life isn't as simple as good and bad, marine and pirate. We never made a secret of our relationship with Whitebeard, and when he died we mourned him, so if we wanted the World Government's protection then, they would likely have make us humble ourselves first." He snorted. "They were happy enough to leave us to him when it maintained their precious power balance ... and now ..." He shook his head. "We should have decided on an offer when we had the chance."

"Offer?" Luffy wondered.

"From the other Emperors. Big Mom and Kaidou put theirs on the table right away, but they wanted tribute, so we said no, and then there's Red Hair, who came in person, if you can believe it, to speak to the island elders. I don't think we've really turned him down, but we couldn't accept either."

"WHAT? WHY NOT?" Luffy waved his arms about like he was trying to take off. "Shanks is awesome! He'd totally keep you safe."

Allie looked at Luffy like he was assessing him anew. "You know-?" He cleared his throat. "I think in the end he knew we wouldn't say yes. These are not his waters, and unlike Whitebeard, he only has the one crew and the one ship. Not only would him claiming an island so far from his territory be almost like a declaration of war against the other Emperors, but he would likely be too late to help us if we were attacked. We appreciate that he came, though. Only his offer came from true concern."

Luffy was pouting. "I'm sure Shanks would have kept his word. If he offered to protect you, then he would protect you."

"You seem to know so much about it, Allie-kun," Nami praised him. "I'm really impressed!"

"You think-? Thank you, Nami-san." Allie blushed. "Well, Father and Aunty used to discuss these things quite often; for months it was the only topic of our dinner conversation, so I guess I picked up a little, and I did get to meet with Red Hair, when he came, so at least I can say I know what kind of man he is."

"You met him?" Luffy lost his little pout in favour of renewed excitement.

"Yeah! The elders wanted me to ask him ... Hey, I hope Chopper-kun and that sleepy swordsman will be okay. Once we leave the main street, they'll have a hard time finding us."

Here was a boy with secrets, Sanji thought, as Allie completely changed the topic of their conversation. The more Sanji heard him speak, the more it seemed to him that Allie's sentences were a little slow and unnatural, as if he was constantly choosing his words, but the excitement of new friends seemed to be making him forget himself.

"Give me a moment," Robin-chan said, stopping and crossing her elegant arms. By now, paved streets had appeared beneath their feet, and the cottages had been replaced by two- or even three-story city buildings and shops. Robin looked up towards a tall nearby building. "Ojos Fleur." Somewhere up there, eyes would be appearing in brick and wood, to diligently search the streets for a colourful cap or a moss-green head.

After a moment, in which poor Allie must have wondered what the heck was going on, Robin let her arms fall, briefly closing her eyes as if to reclaim them into her body. "They're not behind us anymore."

"Don't worry," Luffy said. "When they want to find us, Chopper can sniff us out. Maybe they saw something interesting and went to check it out." A light seemed to go on somewhere in that rubber brain. "Maybe they found meat!"

"Or maybe the moss-head got them both lost," Sanji muttered. "Either way, they can look after themselves."

They walked on. After a moment's pause, Robin ventured, "You spoke of the World Government's protection in the past tense. Can't you appeal to them anymore?"

Allie glanced at them. "No, we ... We have a protector now."

"Who is it?"

Allie looked at his shoes. "We would have said no if we could, but he didn't ask. He just ... claimed us. Like he has done with so many of Whitebeards old territories. He doesn't come to see us ever, but his agents come for tribute. I ... wish there was something we could do, but ..."

The Straw Hats shared a moment of silence. Blackbeard.

Luffy especially had gone very, very quiet.

Eventually, Robin put a hand on Allie's shoulder. "His time will come. Don't worry, Allie. Your island will be free again."

"By the way, Allie-kun, where are you taking us?" Nami asked, smoothly changing the topic.

Allie pointed towards a crossroads up ahead. "There's a big market down by the harbour. It's where most of the festival activities take place, so there's lots to see. All the local shops have stands, and many merchants come to the island just to sell their wares during the festival. It's also where I'm meeting the band."

"Ah, that sounds great!"

"Lead the way, Allie!"

The town had obviously grown gradually into its current size, because the cobblestone streets were narrow and labyrinthine. Allie wanted to know all about their adventures, and Luffy, restored to his cheer, gushed about the inhabitants of Fishman Island, the amusement park on Sabaody, and the Straw Hats' adventures on Skypiea. They discovered that Allie had never left the island before, and so made an eager listener. Around them, the streets began to show signs of the ongoing festival; banners and colourful ornaments hung on strings between houses, and many windowsills were decorated with native flower arrangements.

The harbour smelled of fish, tar and seagull droppings; rank, but comfortingly familiar. Allie lead them true, and they emerged from the narrow streets into blinding sunlight and one of life’s lively stages; a massive market square teeming with people, stands in rows selling every kind of seafood, the shouts of men and women hawking their wares, children chasing each other around their parents' legs, and sailors of every shape and colour going about their business, or noisily celebrating their shore leave with drink and song. It was fenced in on three sides by rows of shops and restaurants and warehouses, while the fourth side was open to the quay and the sea beyond.

"Allie, this place is amazing!" Luffy was laughing, eagerly looking around as if he couldn't decide where to run off to first.

"I'm glad you think so."

"Oh!" Nami-san shaded her eyes and peered off into the crowd. "I think I see Zoro and Chopper!"

"Shall we catch up to them?" Robin-chan asked, pushing her hat back on her head.

"I have to go meet my friends," Allie said, glancing restlessly off in a different direction. "I hope you will be alright on your own for a while."

"Sure, Allie-kun," Nami reassured him. "We'll be fine."

The boy tucked some stray hairs shyly behind his ear. "We'll be done in a couple of hours. I can meet you here to show you the way back out of town. I'll be staying here until the show tonight, but I can take you to the forest road at least."

"That would be great," Sanji agreed quickly, having already wondered how they were supposed to find their way back. "A couple of hours should be enough time for us today, right ladies?"

Nami and Robin both nodded, Nami-san a little reluctantly.

"Then I'll see you later!" Allie waved as he hurried off. "Bye, Luffy-san! Sanji-san! Robin-san! Nami-san!"

"Bye!"

"Yosh!" Luffy put his hat more securely on his head, swivelled around and set off towards the middle of the crowded square, shouting and waving. "OOOOOOI! CHOPPER! ZORO!"

Nami and Robin followed him, but Sanji remained behind to light himself a new cigarette and take a deep drag. Then he plunged in after them.

"How did you end up down here anyway?" Nami-san was asking, gently karate-chopping Zoro on the head. "And before us."

"Don't blame me!" ("Believe me, I don't.") "This little monster dragged me into a bookstore, and then another bookstore, and it turned out to be a whole street full of bookstores, and if I hadn't grabbed his new book and run for it, we wouldn't have come out until spring!"

Chopper meanwhile was clutching a large, dusty old book and growling up at Zoro.

Luffy was laughing, Robin was chuckling, Zoro was getting flustered trying to fend off Nami-san's attacks, and suddenly Sanji was eager to join their circle, struck again with the overwhelming joy of being part of this crew, surrounded by his friends, but as his steps sped up to reach them, he happened to glance out towards the water, and there lay the pirate ship they had seen from the hilltop, looming like a king over the smaller merchant vessels that surrounded it. Sanji stopped.

"Sanji?" Luffy's voice.

He was moving towards the quay before his mind had caught up with what he was seeing.

"Sanji, where are you going?"

He almost ran, but in the gap between the warehouses he came to a halt, arrested by the eyes of the great white bird that hung as if crucified on the prow of that huge ship. Its black-tipped wings were splayed back, each feather carved and painted in exquisite detail. The chest was thrust out and the head bowed, but the eyes stared forward with a menace and an accusation that made Sanji unable to take so much as a single step further.

_"Stop it, Jirou! It's in pain! Please, Jirou! PLEASE STOP IT!"_

The cigarette crumbled away to nothing between his fingers.

Running footsteps behind him, and the presence of his nakama strong against his back, their lives pulsing and singing. Before him, cold menace.

"It's that ship again," Nami said.

"Is that a seagull?" Zoro wondered.

"A very angry seagull?" Luffy added.

"It's an albatross," Robin-chan informed them. "See the long, hooked beak? They have the largest wingspan of any marine bird, longer than the height of most men."

"Oooh. Longer than Brook?"

"Brook is not most men."

"Hey, Sanji?"

He tore his eyes away at last.

Chopper was looking up at him with concern. "Are you alright, Sanji? You're pale."

"Is that a new book?" Sanji asked, but heard how hollow his voice sounded. "Have you spent your money already, Chopper? We still have a whole festival to explore, you know."

"Do you know the ship, Sanji-kun?" Nami-san asked.

He shook his head.

"Are you sure?"

Are you sure? The albatross seemed to be asking him the same thing. Are you sure you don't know me? Sanji shuddered with guilt that felt raw like an old wound reopened.

"Excuse me?" Robin-chan had taken a step out of their circle and stopped a passing woman. "Do you know who that magnificent ship belongs to?" she asked with an innocent smile.

"Magnificent? I don't know about that, dear." The woman snorted and shifted her basket of greens to the other arm. "It arrived two days ago. Crew of nearly a hundred, though you wouldn't know it to look at them. Thought we'd see some proper sales, didn't we, but they barely show their faces in any shop."

"How strange," Robin exclaimed sympathetically. "But surely they must need things. Does their Captain not allow it, perhaps?"

The woman shrugged. "How should I know? They've not caused any trouble, but I still don't like the look of 'em; nobody dresses like that lest they're out to do mischief to someone. Then again," she glanced up at the ship. "They are pirates."

Robin let her go.

"That raised rather more questions than it answered," she said apologetically as she came back. "I was mostly hoping to learn their name."

"What did you run for?"

Zoro's voice startled Sanji. The swordsman had crossed his arms over his chest and waited for an answer with one eyebrow raised. Sanji racked his mind for that answer.

_Old sins._

"I thought I saw a beautiful lady."

Zoro's expression darkened, and he looked away. "Che. Stupid curly cook always causing trouble."

A spark of anger helped Sanji surface from his past. "That came from the right gob, you lost child. We've had to look for you twice today."

Zoro stuck his lower lip out at him rudely. "Nobody asked you to, pervy cook."

"I wasn't the one who wanted to, mossface!"

"Alright already!" Nami-san interrupted them. "I swear you two are getting tetchier every day." She sighed and turned back towards the square. "I for one, am going shopping now. We can ask Allie about these other pirates later."

"They look like they're rich," Luffy said, looking up at their ship.

Her head swivelled around with eyes like berry signs. "You think so?"

"Let's go explore," Robin-chan said, taking Nami-san's arm and pulling her gently away. "I saw a jewellery stand over there that I would like to visit."

"Hey, Chopper," Luffy grinned. "Wanna go get something to eat?"

Chopper was almost bouncing on his feet. "I want sweets!"

Sanji turned his back on the albatross with a deliberate motion. Something inside him twinged, like his guts had been tethered to that ship and he was yanking on them. "I'll go with the ladies!" he declared.

"Well, Zoro?" Luffy was already running in place. "What do you want to do?"

Zoro rubbed the back of his neck, sighing and looking out over the square indecisively. "I don't know. I don't really need anything."

"Come with us," Nami-san proposed. "We'll see about getting you a new earring."

"What's wrong with my earrings?"

"Nothing, nothing, but it's fun to have something new sometimes, right?"

Zoro's earrings. Sanji wanted to run his fingers through those three drops of gold, feel the cold metal and the warm earlobe against his fingertips.

"I don't want anything new, but I can tag along, I guess."

Oh wonderful.

They split up. The ladies were quickly waylaid by all the other interesting things being sold around the square, and so it took them a while to get to the jewellery stand. Once there, they showered their precious attention on the various bits and bobs for sale, all of which became infinitely more lovely when hung around Nami-swan and Robin-chwan's graceful necks. Sanji stood by to provide the compliments, in between running after Zoro, who kept wandering off.

"Can you stand still for five seconds maybe!"

"I'm bored."

"You know what? I don't even know why I keep coming after you."

"I didn't ask you to."

"If you wander off we have to come look for you later."

"I can find my own way back."

"Yeah. See you in a week."

And yet, whenever Zoro wandered off, Sanji couldn't settle down until he had gone to fetch him.

Once, he actually found him at a stall, checking out an array of typical tourist trinkets. Flags, pens, scarves with a silhouette of the island on it, that kind of thing.

"Need a new pen?" Sanji asked, just to say something.

Zoro shrugged. "Just looking." He ran his fingers through a row of identical pendants hung from a simple jewellery stand.

Sanji's breath caught. Albatrosses again. Each pendant was a small, carved albatross in flight. Unlike the ship, though, these seemed to chime with something inside him, striking a note of familiarity. Had he seen something like this before?

"Admiring our mascot?" the stall keeper asked. "The albatross is the symbol of Arashi. You know there's a guided tour that'll take you to their mating ground on the other side of the island? They're an impressive sight when they leap from the cliff side and cruise above the waves."

Zoro wasn't paying attention, though; he was looking at Sanji. "What's with you?"

"Nothing." Sanji pulled his eyes away from the necklaces, but couldn't hold Zoro's eye either, and ended up turning his back. "Wander where you want, stray moss. I'd rather be with the ladies."

Zoro scoffed. "Whatever."

His harsh tone sat like a stone in Sanji's stomach as he went back to Nami and Robin.

They eventually bumped into Luffy and Chopper again, and wandered on together from stall to stall. Sanji did _not_ look around for Zoro.

The first hour was almost up when Usopp and Brook came sailing round the arm of the inlet in the Mini Merry. They found Zoro first and dragged him along so that the whole crew, sans Franky only, were soon reunited again.

One part of the square had been set aside for games of all kinds. There were children everywhere, trying their little hands at ring toss, fishing for prizes, potato racing and more.

One booth contained a game where you could throw a ball at a pyramids of old cans, and maybe win a prize. Chopper caught sight of a miniature ship on the top shelf, and fell instantly in love.

"Usopp, Usopp, do you think you could win that for me?" He tugged enthusiastically at Usopp's trouser leg.

"Do I think I can?" Usopp put his hands on his hips and laughed loudly. "Am I not Usopp, sharp-shooter of the Straw Hat crew?"

"Yes you are!" Chopper shouted.

"I don't think I can, I know I can! Oi, Mr Stall Man." He slammed a few berries down on the counter. "Give me a shot. I'll knock 'em all down, first try."

The booth man took the coins and put three balls on the counter. There were three pyramids set up on the tables in the back. "That's the right attitude. Knock down all three and you can have your pick of the prizes."

Usopp picked up the first ball and tossed it up and down to get a feel for it. He backed up a little, and the booth man moved aside, giving him access to all three pyramids. Usopp gave Chopper a final grin and a thumbs up, and then he pulled his arm back for the first throw.

Bang. Bang. Bang. The three pyramids scattered violently and clattered to the ground. A red line appeared on Usopp's cheek, a drop of blood welling up and running down to fall from his chin. He still had the ball lifted for the throw.

"Who-?"

The Straw Hats looked around, but there was no one nearby who could have been responsible. The booth man, face full of fear and confusion, bent down slowly to pick up a can.

"There's a hole ..." he began.

And there was, a bullet hole going clean through the box, and three bullets imbedded in the back wall of the booth.

"Usopp, you're bleeding!" Chopper jumped into heavy point so he could carefully dab at Usopp's cheek with a clean cotton ball. "Stand still."

But Usopp pushed him away distractedly. "Who did that?" he demanded.

A delighted cackle answered them. From out of the crowd, two old women came walking, one tall and gaunt, her wrinkled mouth frowning, the other one short and grinning. The short one put her blunderbuss back in its holster with a final chuckle.

"Sorry about that, Sonny. Almost hit you. Could've been nasty. Imagine your brains splattered on the ground with all these children around to see." She laughed again, like a frog quacking. Her teeth were crooked and poorly maintained, and her hair was a wild, white cloud around her head. Her round face was wrinkled with age, and yet she wore a soldier's uniform, though of unfamiliar design. Her companion wore the same, but with the jacket buttoned up in the throat, and her buttons and boots shone with polish.

"You fired a gun into a crowd of people!" Nami said disbelievingly. "You could have killed someone!"

"Didn't though, did I?" She turned to the booth man. "How about that prize, my boy?"

"H-hey, Granny!" Usopp was shaking. "What's the big idea, using a gun to win a fair game?"

She shrugged, a devilish glint in her brown eyes. "I heard an overconfident child bragging about his skills. Thought I'd show him a thing or two about sharp-shooting."

Usopp grew red with humiliation.

Luffy's haki flared, anger vibrating in the air. It felt like a headache buzzing against Sanji's skull. The booth man swayed dizzily, overcome by the strength of it. "You shouldn't underestimate my sniper," Luffy said.

The tall one, wraith-thin and silver haired with a back as straight as a ruler, turned her sunken, empty eyes on Luffy. Was it Sanji's imagination, or did she look at Luffy almost hatefully?

"Ha! Think you can do it after me, do you?" The short woman's beady black eyes glinted challengingly.

"Sure I can!" Usopp said loudly.

Sanji took a preventative step forward. "Usopp, don't-"

Usopp flung an arm out, cutting him off. "But I don't need to fire on a crowd of innocent people to prove myself. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to win that ship for my friend." He turned his back on the women. "Hey mister, set up the boxes again."

The Straw Hats beamed with collective pride.

It was the short woman's turn to grow red in the face. "Why, you-"

But she was interrupted by her companion's slow clapping.

Usopp frowned at them over his shoulder.

The tall one put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Come. We will make our report."

They turned away, the short one still grumbling.

"Wait." Zoro called them back. They turned. "Who are you?"

They hesitated for a moment, but the tall one seemed to have gained some measure of respect for them. She replied. "Furia and Baba Demona, navigators on the Moon Citadel."

So they were sisters? They didn't look much alike. Except that they were old. And ladies.

"You're with the big ship in the harbour?" Robin asked.

The tall one, Furia, nodded shortly. Then she turned and began to walk away.

"Why an albatross?" The question was out before Sanji could stop himself.

Baba grinned at him as she turned to follow her sister. "Don't you know, kitchen boy?" They walked away, Baba cackling like a witch.

Sanji trembled inside.

"You said you didn't know the ship," Zoro said, voice gone rough with accusation.

"I don't. I was just curious," Sanji answered evasively.

Zoro rounded on him. "They knew you, _kitchen boy_."

"Come on, you guys, stop it," Usopp said, tossing the ball up and down. The booth man was almost done stacking the cans again.

Sanji bristled. "They know all of us, you braying donkey; we're fucking famous!"

"Some of us, yeah, but not you. What's your wanted poster showing these days? Your ass?"

Sanji scraped his left shoe over the cobbles, making flames lick around the sole. "You're getting on my nerves, your shitty bastard." Felt like he could combust with no effort at all.

Zoro rested a hand demonstratively on Wado's hilt. "You had better not be putting this crew in danger."

"I WOULDN'T DO THAT!"

No trust, no caring, nothing to be had. But Sanji shouldn't be wanting anything from this man in the first place.

"Hey." Luffy came in between them. "Enough. You two have been really mean to each other lately."

Zoro drew back, he even looked away; what the hell did _he_ have to be ashamed of? What would it have taken for Sanji to earn even a small measure of the respect Zoro showed Luffy? Sailing into the sky? Declaring war on the world? Conquering the five seas?

"Oi, Sanji." Luffy's eyes were kind. "You alright?" The question was honest, open.

"Yeah," Sanji replied automatically. "Of course I am."

"Good!" Luffy grinned. "Then you'll be friends for today, okay? Okay." He clapped them both on the shoulder so hard they tumbled into each other. For a moment they were fumbling to right themselves, hands and chests and knees knocking, and Sanji felt breathless and lost and stupid. He stumbled away finally, and turned his back, shuddering with heat.

The others were gathering around Usopp, waiting to see him do his thing at last. Brook, tall enough to see over the heads of the others, stood back a little.

Sanji looked around. He felt ... like he was standing outside looking in. He tapped Brook on his bony shoulder. "I'll take the Mini Merry back early if you don't mind. I want to get started on dinner."

Brook cocked his head to the side, hollow eye sockets somehow expressing sympathy. "Of course, Sanji-san. Will you be alright on your own? Perhaps someone should accompany you."

Bang. The first pyramid fell and the Straw Hats cheered.

"Well done, Sir, let me just reset them for you."

"I'll be fine," Sanji said. Why wouldn't they leave him alone?

Brook nodded seriously. "Of course, but these waters are dangerous even in fine weather, and we wouldn't want anything to happen to you."

Bang. The cans clattered to the floor again. More cheering.

"I suppose I can ask," Sanji conceded, too tired to argue.

"Good. Someone will step up, I'm sure of it."

Bang. One last time, Usopp felled the cans with an expert throw. Chopper was handed his prize. Luffy danced a little victory dance. Nami-san and Robin-chan were bestowing their beautiful smiles on the victor.

Usopp planted his hands on his hips, grinning from ear to ear. "Didn't I tell you?"

Even Zoro was smiling, quietly proud, easily giving to Usopp what Sanji was always deemed unworthy of.

"Anybody want to go back to the ship?" Sanji asked loudly. "I'm taking the Mini Merry."

Chopper danced over with his backpack full of book, his arms full of ship, and his heart full of joy. "I'll come with you! I wanna read a bit before dinner!"

"Aww, but we just got here," Usopp whined. "You're going back already?"

"I have to feed you all when you get home."

"What about supplies?" Nami asked. "Didn't we need something?"

Sanji shrugged. He just wanted to go home to his kitchen, were he could be alone. Where he was in control. "Nothing urgent. I'll do that shopping tomorrow."

"I'll go back too," Robin said kindly. "We have three more days here after all."

And finally, because Sanji's day had decided to be just that shitty, Zoro shrugged and said "I'll go too."

A curious glance from Luffy kept Sanji from opening his mouth.

Next to him, Brook sighed happily. "You see, Sanji-san? Now you won't be alone."

The booth man accidentally knocked over one of the pyramids, sending the boxes clattering to the floor again.

Luckily, the ride home was quiet. Sanji and Robin rode in front, Chopper and Zoro in the back. Zoro was asleep before they left the harbour. Sanji felt the eyes of the albatross follow him until they finally rounded the left arm of the inlet and were out of sight.

Franky was busy touching up Sunny's paint, hanging over the side in a contraption of ropes and planks. Sanji turned away from the sight of Robin bending over the rail to talk to him. He took the steps two at the time and escaped into his domain, where knife and chopping board, pot and pan were waiting for him.

The rhythms of cooking calmed him. He chopped vegetables, cleaned and filleted the fish, and spent some time sharpening his knives. Left alone by the others, the only thing that could disturb him was his own mind.

_"Hey, Sanj, wanna play hooky?"_

_“No, Jirou, the old geezer will kill me.”_

_“Not you, he won’t. Not his little eggplant. Come on, Sanj. He won’t even know we’ve been gone.”_

Sanji set the table, folded cranes out of the napkins and refused to remember.

_Much later, when the Baratie was dark and quiet, they were side by side between endless stacks of dirty dishes, their backsides bruised and faces burning, but Jirou’s whisper in his ear heated Sanji better than the beating had._

_“It was worth it.”_

_“… yeah.”_

_They shared secret smiles._

He heard the others come back and opened the door despite himself. They were loaded with bags and talking excitedly. Sanji lit himself a cigarette and listened.

Allie had walked them back out of the city, as promised, and invited them to come watch his performance this evening. Sanji nodded to himself, finished his cigarette and went back to his sizzling pans.

A few minutes later, Luffy was hanging upside down in the doorway to the kitchen. “Ooooooi, Sanjisanjisanjisanji. Is it dinner yet?”

“Soon, Pirate King,” Sanji answered soothingly. His biggest pot was on the oven, and he was gently folding sour cream and a variety of herbs into the thick stew.

Luffy swung idly back and forth for a bit, before dropping down and wandering over, hands on his back and expression suspiciously casual.

Sanji raised an eyebrow as Luffy peered over his shoulder. “Keep your hands to yourself, Luffy,” he warned.

Luffy immediately put his hands behind his back. “I wasn’t gonna do anything.”

Sanji couldn't help a grin. “Suffer a little longer and it’ll be worth it, I promise.”

“Shishishi. Course it will be. You're my cook, aren't you?”

Sanji nodded. Yes. He belonged here. “Only the best for my Captain.”

“Luffy?” Usopp stuck his head through the door. “Hey, do you-” He stopped and raised his head, breathing deeply through his nose. “Oh, that smells good, Sanji!”

"You can tell the others it's almost finished."

Dinner was a relatively quiet affair, meaning that the laughing, yelling and general merriment was kept at its normal level, just below the ceiling. Stew was one of the few things Luffy couldn’t easily snatch off someone else’s plate, but to compensate, he ate twice as much as anyone else.

Usually, Sanji would be glowing with satisfaction over another meal well-received by his hungry charges, but today everything was off, and he felt only an ache because Zoro never said anything about his cooking, only ate in silence.

Usopp was in the middle of relating the thrilling tale of his victory at the fair, when Franky, the engrossed listener, made a sudden exclamation that caused everyone sit up and listen.

“The Moon Citadel? I know that ship!”

“You know it?” Nami echoed.

Franky nodded. “It’s only a few years old.” He spooned stew into his mouth and chewed the diced fish thoughtfully. “I remember it pretty well; there was something weird about it from the beginning, even before it was built.”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Sanji said as he went around with the pot, ladling more stew into the bowls that were held out. But he was listening carefully.

“How do you mean, it was weird?” Usopp asked, having already forgiven the interruption of his own story.

“Well, it was commissioned for a newly formed crew from San Faldo ... you know, the Carnival City? The Puffing Tom goes there. I heard that over the space of just a few weeks, almost fifty men and women from that town left their families, homes and jobs to head out to sea. Just like that.”

Robin sat back in her chair, arms crossed over her chest and one long finger tapping her chin. “If they come from San Faldo, it would explain their masquerade theme. The ones we’ve met have all been elaborately dressed and wearing masks.”

“Huh, you’ve met others?” Sanji put the pot back on the stove and sat down at the table again.

Robin nodded. “We ran into a group of them as we were leaving the market.”

Was it Sanji’s imagination, or were they all suddenly studying him?

“There were around ten of them," Robin continued, eyes narrowing. "All wearing black cloaks and tricorn hats. They were identical except for their masks. They didn't spare us a glance, but almost trampled us going past.”

Nami licked gravy from her spoon and asked, “Franky, do you know who their Captain is? They’re called the Gently Pirates, so we figured that’s his name.”

Again with the glances in Sanji's direction, but he'd never heard of anyone named Gently before. It was a weird name by any account.

Franky sipped his cola bottle and shook his head. “It sounds familiar, from back then I suppose, but I never met him. I doubt he was a local though; he paid a huge sum to get the ship built, and that kind of spending makes the newspapers, so we would have known. Not to mention the bribe he must have paid to get the commission bumped to the front of the queue. I remember how much that bothered me; I didn’t think Iceburg took bribes, nor should the boys at Dock 1 have put up with it, and yet …”

“Wait, Paulie built that ship?” Luffy asked excitedly.

“And Lucci and Kaku,” Franky reminded him. "And Lulu and Tilestone and all the others.”

Robin smiled. “It’s quite a mystery ship, isn’t it?”

Luffy was frowning, spoon in his mouth. “I don’t like it.”

“It’s a fine ship,” Franky said sternly. “Nothing wrong with it.” He shrugged. “Of course, I can’t speak for the people manning her.”

“Those two ladies, Furia and Baba, certainly seemed strange,” Nami said, leaning forward with her elbows on the table and idly flipping her spoon between her fingers. “It was almost like they came to test us. Remember what Furia said about making a report?”

“Well, we showed them,” Usopp said decisively. “I don’t care if they’re fifty or two hundred strong; they’re no match for the Straw Hats. We’ll take them on!”

A chorus of cheerful agreement followed this statement. Sanji joined in. In a couple of days that ship would move on, and that would be the end of it.

It was all likely just a coincidence anyway.

A few hours later, after dishes, a round of cards and a security check, the crew left the Sunny Go and once more made the trip through the forest and across the hill. The sun was slowly going down, the light fading.

As they made their way through the city towards the harbour, they began to encounter people dressed up for the festival. Sanji shared a look with Nami that encompassed the crew’s own outfits, including the grass stains on Chopper’s knees, Franky’s red speedos, and everyone else clearly wearing the same thing they had worn earlier today.

“Should we have changed?” Robin asked, catching on as she looked around at the well-dressed people going their way.

Nami chewed cutely on a fingernail. “This is awful! We’re going to look like louts.”

“Who’s a lout?” Usopp demanded. The crew stopped and looked at each other. Luffy was picking his nose, Zoro was yawning. Franky was almost naked. Brook was slouching.

“We look like louts,” Sanji concluded.

“Argh!” Nami turned on the spot, eyes searching the buildings around them. “Isn’t there a clothesline we can rob somewhere?”

“Nami! That would be stealing,” Chopper said.

Nobody pointed out the obvious. Let the reindeer keep his innocence.

Nami continued to fret as they neared the square and the crowd thickened. Sanji on the other hand was too busy looking at all the ladies in their pretty dresses.

“Look!” Usopp pointed to a sign above a shop door. It was a picture of a high-heeled shoe and a bowtie. “We could buy something.”

“… Buy?” Nami made a sound like her soul was dying. “But buying costs berries.”

Usopp gave her a flat look, before smiling with mock cheerfulness. “Rich louts it is!”

“No, no!”

Just then, a woman came out of the shop. She turned on the doorstep and proceeded to fish a pair of keys out of her bag.

“Eek! Stop her! She’s gonna close the shop!”

Brook was next to her in three long-legged strides. He tipped his hat. “Excuse me, ma’am, would you please keep your shop open just long-”

The lady took one look at his skeletal face, shrieked and fainted.

“Ops.”

“Well done, Brook,” Zoro said as the crew moved past him and his unconscious lady, through the door and into the shop.

“Don’t leave me out here!”

Sanji went back and held the door open. Brook looked around hastily, lifted the woman into his arms and carried her over the threshold. Was it kidnapping? Maybe.

After about a dozen costume changes, a heated argument over whether or not black speedos could be considered formal wear, and a lot of frantic pinching of Sanji’s nose (twice when Nami tried on dresses that turned out to be too small, and once secretly when Luffy pulled away the changing room curtain while Zoro was still naked), the Straw Hat crew emerged into the darkening street no longer looking like louts.

... Well. At least they were well-dressed louts.

“Thank you,” Nami called back inside to the shopkeeper, who had recovered, and offered them her surrender, and given them a discount.

The men wore black suits and white shirts. Chopper had a pink bowtie and a new black top hat that Usopp had fixed to go over his horns. Brook and Sanji had pink ties. Luffy, Usopp and Franky had foregone the ties, but bought roses for their buttonholes instead. Oh, and Franky had won the speedo-argument. So no pants.

Robin, on the other hand, had chosen a suit like the men, and Usopp had braided her hair and twined the bottom with a pink ribbon. When Sanji complained that she could have chosen a skirt like Nami-swan, Robin merely smiled and shrugged her elegant shoulders. “Who else would wear the pants in this relationship?”

Franky grinned like an absolute bastard. Who got laid a lot.

“Do you think we overdid it?” Nami wondered, adjusting the buckles on her high heels. She wore a navy blue, knee-length dress with straps, and a shawl against the chill.

“Definitely,” Zoro replied moodily. He’d refused to take his old pants off again after the curtain incident, but the ladies had finally bullied him into a white shirt and a long, black overcoat.

“Pssht. You and your ragged old haramaki should be the last to complain,” Nami said. “Ruining our hard work.” She eyed the green belt like she would have liked to do something unspeakable to it.

“Che.” Zoro thumbed his swords demonstratively.

Hundreds of warm, colourful lanterns lit up the market square. The crowd had swelled, and everyone from the oldest grandfather to the littlest baby were in their finery. There were fewer stands open, and the remaining ones now sold sparklers, toys and trinkets, roasted nuts, sausages and warm drinks.

Sanji noted with great relief that the Moon Citadel no longer sat in the harbour, though he doubted she'd gone far, seeing as their log pose couldn't have set yet.

On the stage on the far side of the square, an important-looking old woman was making a speech, her voice coming loud and clear from speakers on each side of the massive platform. The Straw Hats made their way towards it. In front, the regular sized crew members slipped easily through the crowd, whilst Franky wreaked havoc in the rear.

"I'm sorry, real sorry, coming through, ops, that was your foot, sorry, sorry. Ouch, that must have hurt. I'm sure the swelling will go down eventually. Sorry."

They found a good spot from which to watch, and settled in. The old woman droned on. Community, prosperity, hard work, taxes.

"This is why I became a pirate," Brook complained after a big yawn.

“And this would be why the entertainment is always late.” Mara had found them. She smirked. “The Mayor’s speech always runs on for too long. Doesn't change much either.” She had cleaned off the soot of the forge, and donned a pair of trousers and a nice blouse.

“You look enchanting this evening, my lady.” Sanji gave her a sweeping bow.

She raised her eyebrow sceptically. “You lot are all crazy.” But he saw a note of colour infuse her cheeks.

They made mutual introduction between Mara and Usopp, Brook and Franky.

“Craaaazy,” she repeated as she shook Brook’s bony hand and Frank’s tiny metal one.

“Isn’t my crew great?” Luffy asked, entirely too sincerely for a man whose crew consisted of two ladies, two dorks, two perverts, a dead man and a reindeer.

But after considering them all, Mara just smiled. “They’re not bad. Not bad at all.”

Applause told them that the Mayor’s speech was finally over. The crowd began to sound excited as the host took the stage to introduce the first performers.

"The next act is one I'm sure you've all been waiting for. It's our very own island siren, Allie!"

Wild applause broke out as Allie and the band came onstage. Allie wore a long blue tunic and silver earrings, and had put his hair up. Sanji thought about his ... friends, back on Momoiro Island, and wondered ... But Allie was pretty and kind-hearted, be he girl or boy or something in between, so did it really matter?

He still looked shy up there, receiving the applause with some awkwardness, but he was smiling. He positioned himself in front of the microphone, the drummer counted down for the band, the music began, and Allie sang.

It was a simple, jazzy tune, but Allie carried it very well for being so young.

Brook was swaying to the music and humming along. "Ah, Mara-san. Allie really is very talented.”

Mara was tapping her foot and smiling like a proud aunt. “Coming from the great Soul King, that is quite the compliment.”

“YOU KNOW ME?” Brook almost shrieked.

Mara grinned. "Actually, at first I thought you might be that other walking, talking skeleton with an afro."

“Even here,” Brook whispered. “Even in the New World.”

Sanji reached up and patted Brook’s shoulder. “Yes, yes, you’re very famous.”

The skeleton wiggled happily.

Allie finished his first song to great applause. He clearly was very popular with the locals.

"For the next song, you should all find someone to dance with," Allie said. "We're going to play _The Wide Blue Beyond_."

It was a well-known song. Sanji felt his feet grow restless. He wanted to dance. He quickly slipped up to Robin and gave her a bow. "Would you do me the honour?"

"Happily." She let him lead her away into the crowd, to where some space had been cleared for dancing couples. Sanji could have burst with happiness as he placed his hand on the small of her back and pulled her close. Robin was smiling.

The band kicked off the smooth, mellow tune. "I left my lover for the wide blue beyond," Allie sang. "But I think of him often."

Sanji blushed to the roots of his hair, having forgotten the original singer was a female, and the pronouns male.

"Why didn't he change the words?"

Robin tilted her head to the side. "Does it bother you?"

"No." Sanji shook his head, willing his face to stop being red now, thank you.

"I left my lover with a sigh and a song. I wonder if he thinks of me?" Allie sang.

Sanji and Robin danced. Robin was an excellent dancer, naturally graceful, confident in the steps. Even though Franky was watching them, Sanji felt a deep, soothing happiness gliding through the dance with his beautiful partner. In fact, Franky watching was part of the happiness somehow, as if they were three in that dance and not two, and oddly enough, Sanji was happy even in the knowledge that when the song ended he would be the one left behind alone. Their happiness was his in that perfect moment. But it was bittersweet.

"I've sailed the world chasing the wild blue beyond," Allie sang. "But it eludes me. Now I'm wondering if my chance is gone. Would you still have me?"

As they circled each other, Sanji's attention was caught by another couple dancing in the crowd. The lady was thin as a willow stick with long dark hair. Her dress was mass of raven's feathers, making her skin seem terribly pale. She wore deep purple lipstick and a purple mask. Was she one of the Gently Pirates?

But it was the man she was dancing with that made Sanji stop abruptly, forcing Robin to halt as well. He was tall, elegant, and dressed all in black, but his big hat and long coat were lined with gold. There were ruffles at his wrists and throat, and every button blinked brassy in the light of the setting sun. Something about him made it impossible to look away, a familiarity that Sanji dreaded to place.

The couple turned and turned, and then the woman laughed loudly and tipped back the man's hat, and Sanji knew him. He knew that thin, elegant mouth and bold nose, the heavy-lidded eyes and sharp, dark brows. Maybe he was taller, and broader over the shoulders. He had grown out his dark hair. But Sanji still knew him.

"Sanji?" Robin tried to catch his eyes. "Are you alright?"

"Let's go." He grabbed her hand and pulled her away out of the crowd.

"Alone, alone, all, all alone. Alone on a wide, wide sea," the man chanted behind them.

Sanji stopped. The words were strange, but the voice was intimately familiar.

"And never a saint took pity on my soul in agony. Until you, Sanj. Will you not greet your old friend?"

Robin looked at him with concern.

Sanji turned.

And Jirou swept him up into a hug. "Little Eggplant! I have missed you!"

Sanji felt the ground drop away under him. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the rest of the Straw Hats coming this way, and it was bad, it was terrible, this could not be happening.

"You're with the Gently Pirates?" he asked, when Jirou had restored him to his feet. "On the galleon?"

Jirou grinned at him. "With them? Sanj, they're my crew." He swept the hat from his head and bowed low to Sanji and Robin. "I am Gently. The Moon Citadel is my ship."

Sanji found himself breathing faster in agitation. "But why would you-!" he broke off as his nakama came through the crowd and surrounded him.

"Who is this, Sanji?" Usopp asked. "Did you meet someone you know?"

Robin was looking curiously between Sanji and Jirou.

No, no, no.

Zoro crossed his arms over his chest. "Yeah, Cook. Introduce us."

No, no, no!

Sanji hesitated a moment too long, and Jirou beat him to it. "I am Captain Gently of the Gently Pirates, but four years ago I was Jirou, a simple waiter onboard the floating restaurant, the Baratie, and your Sanji was my closest companion." He smiled his most charming smile. "It's so good to see you again, Sanj."

He reached out and pulled his female companion close. "Lethe, say hello to the Straw Hat crew."

She curtseyed prettily. "Hello." She seemed a little distracted, like she was thinking of something miles away.

"Now," Jirou rubbed his hands together. "Why don't you all come aboard my ship for a celebration? Now that I've found my Sanj again, I simply cannot let him go."

The song was coming to an end. Allie's voice had gone quiet and deep. "I know now I was seeking the wild blue beyond thinking I'd be free, but no matter how far I fly, my love, you remain with me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Captain Gently's quote to Sanji is from Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner". It will return several times before the story is over. For you lovers of poetry, I highly recommend [giving it a read](http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/43997).


	3. Chapter 3

 

The Moon Citadel was huge, and yet Zoro felt choked and crushed by the crowd of faceless strangers, these so-called friends they were partying with. He had snagged himself a bottle of booze and was climbing towards a platform high up on the main-mast. He was angry at Luffy for not refusing the invitation, angry at Cook for getting them mixed up with this disturbing crew. These people rubbed him the wrong way, set his teeth on edge and made his skin crawl, all these masked faces, their speech empty, their laughter hollow, but most of all he couldn't stand their captain.

He swung himself up on the platform at last, only to find it already occupied. Furia Demona was stretched out on the boards, leisurely smoking a long, carved pipe. Her eyes were closed. She was leaning back against what at first appeared to be a big shadow, but when Zoro rose, the shadow opened two large yellow eyes and peered at him suspiciously.

"Oh, I didn't know ... I'll just ..." He turned to climb back down.

"Come sit."

It wasn't an invitation so much as a command, and she hadn't even opened her eyes.

Zoro took one step closer, and the shadow lifted its head from its paws.

"That's a big cat," Zoro said, reaching carefully for his swords. The thing was as big as a horse.

Furia reached back without looking and dug her hand into the creature's fur. "Don't you mind him; he's not gonna hurt you."

Zoro wondered who she was talking to; him or the cat. Regardless, man and cat both relaxed reluctantly, and Zoro sat down at a respectful distance.

Furia cracked one eye open and looked at him, exhaling smoke through her nose. "Not one for parties?"

He shrugged. "Not tonight."

He moved to sink his teeth into the cork of the bottle, but she made a sharp, disapproving sound and sat up. "Give me that."

When he hesitated, she reached out a hand, crooking her thin fingers impatiently. So he handed over the bottle. She put her pipe down, reached for the sniper's goggles on her head and placed them over her eyes. Then she fished a small knife out of her boot and thrust it into the cork, pulling it out that way. Zoro watched in bewilderment as she proceeded to peer closely at the bottom of the cork, before sniffing the contents of the bottle.

"Seems alright," she said at last, handing the bottle back to him and tucking knife and cork away. She resettled her glasses on her head and picked up her pipe, leaning back against the cat with a sigh of contentment.

"Not sure I want to drink this anymore," Zoro said, peering into the bottle. It looked alright. Smelled alright too. He took a small swallow. Tasted fine.

"It's quite safe. Even if Bradshaw had sealed the cork again, there would have been a needle mark at the bottom. No needle mark, no poison."

Zoro coughed. "What?"

Furia drew deeply on the pipe. "Doctor Bradshaw gets bored when he doesn't have patients to tend."

He stared at her. "Your doctor poisons the crew in his spare time?" Was it just his imagination, or was his throat itching?

"He's rarely successful. We've learned not to accept food or drink from him."

He would have said she was pulling his leg, except her expression was completely devoid of humour. He wasn't even sure she was capable of smiling; her mouth was little more than a slash in her bony face.

He looked at the bottle again.

Oh well. He drank.

They sat there in a strange, almost companionable silence for a while, high above the world, with the stars and the salty breeze for company. The massive cat snored. Furia blew smoke rings. Zoro watched the dancers on the foredeck. White lanterns burned down there, mirroring the sky, and in their light a hundred dresses glittered, as the Gently Pirates danced the night away. Franky and Robin were in that crowd too, Franky easily recognisable with his massive shoulders and blue hair. Usopp had been picked up by a dark-skinned woman in a deep green gown, and Brook had joined the musicians seated in the shadow of the albatross' wings. The old skeleton fit right in, and was currently fiddling so hard Zoro half expected the strings to catch fire.

He just hoped they were keeping their heads about them.

That was what bothered Zoro. He trusted his captain, who had an uncanny instinct for people; if Luffy said these pirates were okay, then they should be, poisoning and reckless use of firearms aside, but ... Luffy hadn't ... It felt like they had skipped a step, like a page in the storybook had been torn out; there should be another scene to this tableau, the one where the two crews found something they had in common, or overcame some obstacle together, something to take precedence over rivalry.

Pirates from different crews usually avoided each other, because even as they smiled and sang and shared drinks, they all knew their dreams were mutually exclusive; only one man could be the King of Pirates, only one crew could be the first to reach Raftel. Or, if they were of lesser ambition, there was only so much gold in the world, and being pirates, they all wanted it, all of it, for themselves.

As for the Gently Pirates, Zoro didn't even know what their ambition was. Did Gently mean to take Raftel? Did he want gold? Fame? Freedom? The man didn't even have a bounty, another thing that bothered Zoro without him being quite able to say why.

The Straw Hats shared nothing with the Gently Pirates other than one old friendship, and on the subject of that one old friendship, Curly-eyebrows had never mentioned Gently before, Zoro was sure of it. Why had he not, if they had been "best friends", as they both claimed?

"I can hear you brooding." Furia had closed her eyes again. "Is our wine not to your liking?"

"Did Gently ever talk about our Cook?"

"I don't gossip."

He raised an annoyed eyebrow at her, before getting to his feet and walking to the other side of the platform. The rest of the crew was on the aft deck, where the buffet was.

Chopper was trying to teach the purple woman, Gently's companion, how to put chopsticks up her nose. Cook was yelling at him. Luffy was laughing at them. Nami was in the process of fleecing a bunch of hapless gamblers, her pile of berries growing with every roll of the dice across the table.

Standing up here, looking down at them, Zoro felt deeply protective of his nakama, though since the reunion they hardly needed his protection anymore. Furia's pipe smoke drifted past his shoulder, the bitter scent of it invading his nose and touching the back of his throat. ... It wasn't quite true, was it; their new strength, though tested and proven on Fishman Island, meant little in the New World, especially against unknowable opponents.

Luffy and Cook looked up at him almost at the same time, like their haki had told them he was there. Luffy waved, Cook pulled on his lower lip and grimaced rudely. Zoro grinned and gave him the finger. Then Gently was there to divert their attention, offering Cook something to eat from a plate, which Cook apparently liked a lot, because he got all animated, gesturing eagerly for Luffy to try it too, and then they were both gushing over it and Gently sat there like the benevolent host, and Zoro wanted to wring his neck.

Gently was one of the few on the crew not wearing a mask, and yet Zoro suspected this man more than any of them of putting on a false face. The immaculate suit, the golden ruffles and polished brass buttons hid something, Zoro just didn't know what. All he knew was that when Captain Jirou Gently pulled Cook close and grinned down at him with his long teeth, Zoro's mouth ached for the weight of a sword. Kitetsu and Shisui were humming darkly in his mind.

"Oh, look."

He nearly jumped off the platform when Furia spoke up right beside him. She didn't even blink, calmly relighting her pipe. She shook the match, extinguishing it, and gestured below. "There's Dr Bradshaw now."

"Where?"

"Right there, talking to your racoon dog." She patted on the pipe.

Zoro located Chopper in the crowd below. He was talking to a fat dandy with a big orange moustache.

Furia's expression was ... mild. "I think he's offering the little one a cup of tea."

"CHOPPER!"

Zoro took the leap without a second thought. He hit the deck so hard his teeth rattled, and reached Chopper just in time to kick the tea cup out of his hooves and over the railing.

Chopper stared uncomprehendingly after the projectile. "... MY TEA!"

Zoro drove the fat man up against the same railing. "I will carve you from end to end if you try that again."

Bradshaw's eyes were squinty and cunning behind his clown mask. "My good man, what do you have against tea?" he asked, smiling slickly amidst bountiful ruffles.

Zoro pressed closer, until the man's perfume became overwhelming. "End. to. end," he growled. Then he turned to find everyone staring at him.

"What's with you today, Zoro?" Luffy asked, frowning, and Zoro felt a sting of betrayal in his gut. How could Luffy, of all people, let these pirates fool him?

"Are you alright, Dr Bradshaw?" Chopper was asking.

Cook was rising, brushing off his trousers. "Do excuse him," he said dismissively to Gently. "Zoro is more muscle than brain."

Zoro's chest grew tight. His eyes met Cook's, and he was surprised to see how pale the blonde looked up close. It could be the white lantern light, or the heavy, green moon above, but Zoro didn't think so. He couldn't hold those eyes, lately they were always too heavy. He glanced away, and didn't see Cook doing the same.

"Stay away from the tea, Chopper," Zoro said roughly before stalking over to Nami's table.

Nami was digging into a pudding of some kind, rocking back and forth happily as her opponents threw ones and twos.

"Nami." Zoro cleared his throat. "Come dance with me."

"EH?" Nami froze with the spoon halfway to her mouth, looking at him like he had grown a second head.

Cook took offense. "Oi, moss head, what do you think-" But he was yanked backwards by the neck of his jacket, falling practically into Gently's arms.

"Settle down, Sanj; I'm not ready to let you go just yet." The captain slung his arm around the blonde's shoulders.

Hectic red spots appeared in Cook's cheeks. "Damn it, Jirou! You’re being way too clingy!"

"I can't help it, I haven't seen my little eggplant in so long! Forget about your ladies for a moment and come talk with me."

Zoro firmly suppressed his irritation, reached down and grabbed Nami's wrist, hauling her to her feet. "Come on."

"Hey!" The pudding-plate clattered to the table, and the spoon disappeared underneath it.

"I'm gonna kill you, moss head!" Cook yelled while Gently pulled him away, and Zoro dragged a protesting Nami towards the dance floor.

"Huh? Does Zoro dance?" Luffy wondered behind them.

"What's going on?" Nami demanded under her breath as they descended the stairs.

"We need to talk." He plunged them both into the dancing throng, which swirled around them as if they were no more than a rock in a river. She yelped as he spun her around and pulled her up against him. There was some fumbling as he tried to get his hands to go where they were supposed to, while she wriggled like a worm at the end of a fishing line.

"Hold still!" he hissed.

His sword handles pocked her hard in the side, and a moment later he was seeing stars; he could practically feel the dent in his head from her fist.

"Calm down!" she hissed right back, all shark teeth and menace. It was her turn to get grabby, but she actually knew what she was doing; she positioned his hand roughly on her waist, took the other hand in her own, yanked him in closer, kicked off, and then the current swept them up.

"If you step on my feet, I'll do Sanji-kun's work for him," she said sweetly.

Zoro stumbled along as best he could, trying to keep an eye on Nami's feet and watch where they were going at the same time and fucking hell this was fucking hard why did anyone do this for fun crazy bastards?

"Bon- _joor_ , Nami-san, Zoro-kun." Franky grinned obnoxiously at them as he and Robin sailed past, all elegance. Well, all elegance from the waist up, in Franky’s case. Robin smiled at them over Franky's shoulder.

Nami pouted. "Boohoo! Why do I have to dance with a clumsy buffoon when I could have been swept away by a handsome prince?"

"Shut up!" He could feel himself going red. "I'm doing my best. I didn't want to dance in the first place."

Her pout mocked him.

They swayed awkwardly to the music, but Zoro didn't give a damn what they looked like; this was the best place to speak privately without seeming conspicuous.

"Look ... Do you trust these people?" he asked, lowering his voice.

She grinned a clever little grin. "I don't trust anyone."

"I don't like Gently. I don't buy his story."

Her eyes darted around warily, but every face was masked; impossible to tell if they were listening or not, so she leaned in and spoke quietly into his ear. "He's an old friend of Sanji-kun's, right? Wouldn't Sanji have said if it wasn't true?"

Zoro struggled with himself. He trusted the curly-browed love-puppy. Trusted him to have his back in a fight, trusted him to protect the crew ... and yet lately he had felt wary of him in a new way, and it made his head spin. "So maybe it's the truth, that doesn't mean the man isn't trouble. Does Cook seem happy to see him to you?"

Someone bumped into them.

"Be careful, you!"

"YOU BE CAREFUL!"

"Zoro, chill!" Nami pulled him deeper into the circle, where, like in the eye of a storm, there were less dancing couples. She frowned at him as they resumed their awkward shuffling. "Haven't you ever danced with anyone?"

He shrugged. "Never had a reason."

She scoffed at him. "That's no excuse. No one's gonna fall for a man who can't dance, you know."

It was Zoro's turn to roll his eyes at her. "I'm gonna keep an eye out. I want you to let the others know not to let themselves get caught up in all this." He tossed his head in the general direction of ... all that. The music and the glitter and the top hats and the heavy moon. All he saw were masks.

She studied him like he was an unexpected change in the clouds. "You're really worried."

"We can't afford to lower our guard in the New World. Not if we want to survive."

The twist of her mouth become displeased, like his comment had made her angry. "Fine, fine, be that way-OUCH!"

"Agh, sorry!" He had stepped on her foot.

They stopped, in the middle of the circling dancers, the eye of the storm. She looked at him critically. "You'd think a master swordsman would have better coordination."

"Wha-? Dancing and fighting are totally different things!"

"No, it's really not." She sighed, letting the subject go. "I'll talk to the others, so lighten up; try to have some fun." With the skill of a New World navigator, she weaved her way back into the current and disappeared there amongst the flashing gold and silver.

Zoro turned the other way and caught sight of Cook and Gently at the dividing rail. Cook would be watching Nami, no doubt, always jealous. Gently put his hand on the railing next to Cook's, swayed into his space and stayed there, like he was whispering something intimate and confidential, strictly for old friends.

Zoro gripped Shisui's handle and counted down from ten. Then instinct pulled his eyes up the main mast to the platform. Clouds drifted in front of the moon, making it too dark to see, but he could feel Furia's hawk's eyes watching, watching. This whole crew was nothing but eyes.

As the evening wore on, the activities wound down. The plates were emptied, the music had mellowed, and the dancers were trickling up the stairs to get themselves a drink and a breather.

The Straw Hats had gathered around Gently’s table. Zoro sat back to back with Franky. He had surrounded himself with empty bottles and hoped he came across as drunk and sleepy. Chopper wasn’t faking anything; he had already toppled into Zoro’s lap and fallen asleep there with his arms around his new hat.

The purple woman, Lethe, had excused herself and gone to bed, sent there with a lingering kiss from her captain.

Baba had coaxed her sister down from the platform and taken her to a different table. Occasionally, a loud peal of laughter would cut through the quiet night from there, but it was always Baba, never Furia.

Luffy, Usopp and Brook were busy sampling a few more of their favourite dishes. Brook was invigorated, brimful with happiness after having played the night away with an orchestra the likes of which he hadn't seen since his old crew had been alive.

Gently was regaling them all with stories of his and Cook's time on the Baratie. "... Old peg-leg made us do nothing but dishes for a week straight, and for a month more we were always short on forks, and no one dared so much as mention shrimp cocktails, for fear of Zeff's wrath."

Appreciative laughter.

Robin was sitting between Franky's legs. "Sounds like you were quite the rascal, Sanji-kun," she said with warm amusement.

Cook was smoking by the railing, looking out towards the town's myriad lights. He took a long drag of his cigarette and blew the smoke into the sky. "I remember that incident," he said, voice quiet. "I remember you started it. You always started it."

Gently spread out his hands. "Come on, Sanj, don't pretend you weren't willing. And Zeff always forgave you anyway, his precious little eggplant."

Cook didn't reply, but his shoulders rose.

“So …” Nami swayed a little where she leaned over the table. She was pretending to be drunk and silly, and doing an excellent job of it too. “What’s the story behind the big bird?” She pointed vaguely towards the figurehead.

Cook stiffened, cigarette half way to his mouth.

The back of the albatross’ white head shone in the lantern light, and one black eye glinted, alive like the waves were reflected in it. Was it made of glass? Couldn’t be. Maybe Zoro really was getting sleepy.

Gently sighed luxuriously. “It’s a fitting mascot for us, the albatross; their courtship is a dance, you see. However, the real reason I chose it … Well, it’s actually kind of personal.”

“Personal?” Nami grinned excitedly, finger circling the rim of her empty tankard.

Luckily, Nami had managed to go the rounds with the other Straw Hats, so they knew to stay alert, and they were clever enough to realise she was working towards something, and not give away her game.

Cook turned and locked eyes with Gently.

“To me,” Gently began, “the albatross is a symbol.”

Cook’s hand tightened on the railing.

“A symbol of strength, and ambition ... and friendship.”

“That’s not a story,” Nami giggled.

“I would tell it to you in full, lovely lady,” he said playfully, “but I've forgotten a crucial detail.”

“What detlay's that?” she slurred.

Gently cocked his head to the side and looked up at Cook. “… Did you kill it, or did I?”

For a long moment they just looked at each other, tension thick between them. Then Cook seemed to shrink. “I did,” he said.

Gently smiled slowly, and for a moment Zoro thought he saw the man's aura turn demonic. “That’s right. That’s how it was.”

“Not that one,” Nami said, vaguely pointing again. “That one’s still alive.” Her chin slipped from the hand she was supporting herself with. “Wups.”

“That one’s made of wood, Nami-san,” Gently chided her. “Our albatross was flesh and bone. It was exquisite. It used to fly around the Baratie, dwarfing the gulls that were always begging for scraps.”

Luffy had stopped eating. “Why did you kill it, then?” he asked Gently.

“Enough.” Though spoken quietly, there was something final in Cook's voice. He was rooting through his pocket for a new cig. “It’s time we went back. Fuck it all, I have to be up in four hours to make breakfast for you lot.”

“Aww, but I want another drink,” Nami said, batting her eyelashes at him.

“I think you’ve had enough.”

The Gently Pirates probably thought the Straw Hats overreacted, the way they all sat up and stared at their cook. They didn’t know that this was likely the first time Black Leg Sanji had ever said no to a woman.

Even Nami had straightened out of her pretend-stupor, her eyes wide. “Sanji-kun …”

“I think it’s time,” Franky said to Robin, making it half a question.

She nodded. “Yes, I think so too.”

They rose. Zoro followed, putting Chopper under his arm.

“Captain?” Robin looked expectantly at Luffy.

Luffy frowned. Then he shoved whatever food was in reach into his mouth (it was a lot; he had a long reach), swallowed it, stood up, and bowed. “Thank you for the meal!”

Gently rose as well, prompting the rest of the Straw Hats to follow suit. Nami seemed to have forgotten to sway, until Brook offered her his arm, at which point she draped herself on it like a blanket.

“I hope we’ll see more of each other in the days to come,” Gently said with a small bow. “And Sanji, you’d better come back and reminisce with me. I’ve really missed you.”

Cook nodded. "Sure."

They filed down the stairs to the gangplank, except Luffy and Cook, who jumped over the side to shore. Curly-brows didn’t wait, but immediately began walking.

Zoro turned back once. Gently was standing at the railing watching them, surrounded by his crew, whose masks, in green, purple, blue, red and silver, made them seem more like puppets than people.

When he caught up to the others, Nami was holding Cook's hand, and of course he couldn’t deny her anything then.

“I’m sorry,” she was saying. “I went too far.”

He looked tired, but was smiling like an idiot anyway. “It’s okay, Nami-swan.”

“You’d tell us, though, right? If Gently was trouble.”

He shook his head, but it was not a reply. “He likes putting on a show, that's all. There’s no story with the stupid bird. We eat seabirds all the time; what’s the big deal?”

And seeing as Curly-brows had prepared those seabirds, plucked them and cut them to pieces and cooked or fried them, there had to be more to the albatross than that to unnerve him so; Zoro didn’t believe for a moment that there was no story there.

The walk home was mostly silent. They were all sleepy, and full of good food and drink. As they neared the Sunny, however, Cook began to lag behind, and Zoro saw his opportunity. He let the others scale the ship’s side ahead of him, handing Chopper over to Franky, who raised an eyebrow at him, glancing back at Cook and guessing Zoro’s intention.

“Don’t fight,” the cyborg admonished in a low voice.

Zoro resented the implication that he couldn’t control his temper, and refused to answer. It wasn’t his fault the love-cook was so infuriating.

Franky lingered for a moment, annoyed and indecisive, before sighing and swinging himself up over the railing.

Zoro turned around and got into Cook’s path. The bastard merely shifted to the side and walked straight past him.

“Hey!” Zoro grabbed his arm. “Don’t ignore me.”

The kick that came was swift, but expected, and Zoro took it on his shoulder with a grunt, already feeling the bruise that would bloom there.

“Let go of me,” Cook snarled, increasing the pressure from his foot.

“I don’t want to fight, stupid cook.” Zoro’s shoulder throbbed. He had to lean in with all he had to keep from being pushed backwards.

Cook gave him a mocking grin. “And there’s half your personality gone. What else could you want from me besides fighting and food?” Something had happened to him since they were reunited. He seemed to have become at once more vitriolic and hot for the fight, but also less … satisfied by it? For had it not been satisfying? Always thrilling to push the boundaries of what they could throw at each other.

“I’m giving you one more chance to come clean. What’s up with you and Gently?”

“One more chance? What the hell? Who died and made you captain?” Cook pulled his leg back at last and wrenched at his arm. Zoro let him go.

“I’m responsible for the safety of this crew-”

Immediately, Cook was all the way up in his face. “If you accuse me of putting my nakama in danger one more time, I will kill you.” The rage in his eyes was actually kind of breath-taking. “I’m going to bed.” He jumped the railing and was gone before Zoro could speak.

Zoro sighed. _You're part of this crew, idiot._

He gave Cook a moment's head start before climbing on board himself. He had volunteered to take the watch until morning, and was so bound for the crow's nest. For once he didn’t train, but sat by the windows watching the sea and thinking. He saw the sun stir and send its first rays into the sky. He heard the first birds sing. The sun was round and white in a clear sky when the hatch opened and Robin climbed up with a tray held in an extra pair of hands.

“Good morning,” she said as she put the tray on the bench beside him.

“Is it poisoned?” he asked as she pulled away the cover and revealed a plate heaped with toast and scrambled eggs, bacon and vegetables. It smelled amazing, and reminded his stomach of how hungry it should be. He had drunk more than he had eaten at the party; it just didn’t taste as good when the love-cook hadn't made it and Zoro would never admit that out loud.

Robin smiled. “If it is, it won’t take us long to find out.”

He shrugged, grabbed the plate and fork and tucked in.

“How is the crew?” he asked between mouthfuls.

“I think they all went back to sleep.”

“But not you.”

She leaned her elbow on the windowsill and looked out serenely. “No.” A pause. “How about you? Ready for a nap? I can watch for a while.”

He shrugged. He imagined tiptoeing into the men’s quarters to a chorus of snores. Usopp drooling on his pillow. Franky mumbling in his sleep. Luffy in some improbable upside-down position and yet sleeping like a baby. Cook with his nightshirt rucked up to reveal his pale stomach.

"I don't know ... I'll stay a little longer."

What he needed right now was to understand. What was wrong with Sanji. What was wrong with himself.

Robin’s eyes saw him, read him and understood him. Which was weird because he sure as hell didn’t understand himself right now.

He ate, and they watched the sun climb the sky.

By noon, the crew was all up and about, more or less awake. It was decided that today would be a day for chores, meaning that soon there was soap and water everywhere, and a whole lot of laundry flapping in the breeze on clotheslines strung between the masts. Zoro took care of the crow's nest, Franky mowed the lawn, Usopp polished the canons, Sanji scoured the kitchen, Robin dusted the library, Luffy washed the lion head ...

"What are you doing?" Nami asked him.

"It's my seat, it needs to be spotless."

"Go help Chopper or something."

Nami handled the girl's quarters, Chopper did the men's (with eventual help from Luffy), and Brook played the trombone for them. And then he too went to help Chopper. Because Nami told him to.

After a late lunch, Cook, Nami and Franky headed out in the Mini Merry to shop for supplies, while Robin, Brook and Chopper went off on foot to explore the island.

Zoro trained, and then napped with Luffy. Usopp was busy in his invention room.

When the others returned a few hours later, it was with guests in tow. Robin, Brook and Chopper had gone to Allie's, and invited him and Mara to dinner.

"More like kidnapped us," Mara grumped as Brook bowed her up the gangplank. "Pirates."

Allie immediately demanded a full tour of the ship, and Franky was delighted to oblige. Mara pretended not to be impressed.

Meanwhile, Cook put together an extra special dinner.

The presence of the guests diminished any lingering tension from last night, and that might just have been Robin's plan.

Gradually, Mara forgot to pretend to be a grumpy old lady, as she, Franky and Usopp descended into a passionate discussion about building things, taking things apart, and occasionally beating things with hammers. By the end of dinner they were so caught up that they hardly noticed the table being cleared, and eventually, Robin suggested pleasantly that they might take themselves and their loud enthusiasm somewhere else, and so they took the Mini Merry into town to a pub that Mara favoured.

After dessert and coffee, and to the pleasant, unhurried tones of Brook's clarinet, the remaining crew discussed their plans for the evening.

"Are you going to sing again, Allie?" Chopper wondered.

Allie shook his head. "I've had my turn, but there will be other performers tonight." He frowned thoughtfully. "There's also ... no, I guess you've missed out on the lectures, they were this afternoon at the university ... but there's the ghost tour later … that might be fun."

"G-g-g-ghost tour?" Brook squeaked around the mouthpiece of the clarinet.

"Are _you_ -Don't tell me you're afraid of ghosts, Brook-san.” Allie said.

Even Zoro, half-dozing in the grass, wondered at how the boy tripped and started again. It had been a perfectly good sentence.

"I'll have you know I'm a very sensitive skeleton."

Robin pressed her lips together, thinking it over. “I should like to see one of Chopper’s bookshops. There’s an author I want to reacquaint myself with.”

“I’ll go with you!” Chopper’s hoof shot up into the air. “And it’s not because ghosts are scary or anything. Cause they’re not.”

Allie smiled. "I'm sure Sybil will open her shop for us; it's after hours, but she loves meeting other booklovers."

“In that case, I’ll go too,” Nami said, crossing her arms over her chest. “Because ghosts are scary, and I’ve had enough of them for a lifetime.”

But Luffy had stars in his eyes. "I'm gonna see the ghosts!"

Nami rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Wasn't Thriller Bark enough for you?"

Cook downed the last of his wine. "I'll go with Luffy. I'd like to see more of the island."

Zoro wriggled deeper into the cool grass and inhaled luxuriously of the fragrant early-evening air. "I might just stay here-"

"Yes," Cook interrupted him. "Do. Stay here."

Zoro shot him a glare under heavy lids, before grinning evilly. "Why, so I won't see you running scared from the big bad ghosts?"

Cook growled at him. "I'm not afraid of ghosts, grasshead, I just don't like your company."

"Guys," Luffy said warningly, blowing up his cheeks in a childish frown.

"I think I'll go on the ghost trip after all," Zoro said spitefully. "Wouldn't want Curly-face to miss me or anything."

The fingers holding the wine glass whitened, until it seemed the stem might snap at any moment. "I wouldn't miss you if you drowned," the blonde snarled.

The words twisted inside Zoro in an odd way, stinging in his chest. He sat up, a low growl in the back of his throat. "Come on, love-cook, show me a good time. I could use a bit of exercise after dinner."

It was supposed to take them to familiar territory, back to a place where their banter was predictable and easy, but Cook didn't join him there. Instead, he went all weird-faced and pale and started blinking very fast, and then he got up and began clearing away the dishes.

Luffy frowned thunderously at Zoro, who couldn't imagine what he had done wrong. Nothing was as it should be with Cook lately. "Fine, I won't come on the stupid ghost tour! Happy?"

Cook shrugged in a poor attempt to pretend he didn't care. "No, you can go on the stupid ghost tour; I've got dishes to do."

"We're all going on the stupid ghost tour!" Luffy yelled.

"Me too?" Brook whimpered.

Luffy dragged him into a hug, patting him on the back. "Yes, Brook, you too. You can bring your claritoot."

"Clarinet."

"That's what I said."

“Should we meet somewhere later?” Nami wondered a little desperately, clearly trying to cut through the awkward tension; Allie had his hands in his lap and was looking extremely uncomfortable.

It was decided that there was no real reason to meet up, but that each group could stop by the harbour market before they went back to the ship, in case the others were there. Mara's pub was called Coleridge's Quill, and could be found in one of the by-streets.

Allie and Nami helped Cook clear away the dishes, Robin, Luffy and Brook went off to prepare, and so Zoro found himself alone in the grass, except for Chopper, who had risen with the others but seemed to be indecisive on whether to stay or go.

He apparently settled on staying, and turned to Zoro. "Hey, um, Zoro ... Are you alright?"

Zoro shrugged. "Yeah, of course I am."

Chopper came and sat down beside him. "It's just that ever since we left Fishman Island, you and Sanji seem a little different? Like you're not getting along?"

Zoro was a little alarmed to realise he was being given a "talk" by a reindeer. "We've never gotten along, Chopper. We've always fought."

Chopper shook his head slowly. "Not like this. You didn't use to hurt each other before."

Zoro stared at him. "Hurt each other," he repeated dumbly. He didn't like feeling stupider than a kid so many years younger than him. Sure, Chopper wasn't a little reindeer boy anymore, he was a young reindeer man, but Zoro didn't think he would ever stop treating him like the little brother he'd never had, which was why he was always surprised to be reminded that Chopper was wise. "How have we not been hurting each other? You've been treating the cuts and bruises!"

"I think ..." Chopper cast a hesitating glance up towards the kitchen. "I think ..." He seemed frustrated, screwing up his mouth and nose and glaring at nothing. Then he drew a quick breath and began in a rush, "You look at him differently, and he's stopped looking at you altogether, and it's like he's made of glass now and you-"

"Chopper." Robin had come out of the women's quarters. She shook her head lightly at the reindeer, silencing him.

Zoro looked from one to the other. What the hell kind of secret were they keeping? "I don't look at him differently! What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Why was he feeling sick ... almost scared?

The door to the kitchen opened and Nami, Allie and Cook came outside. Cook was running his fingers through his bangs, revealing his pale forehead, and there was a pout to his lips that made Zoro's stomach feel funny. He got up and shook his head at the whole affair. "If the New World is too much for him then he should just admit it and turn back. Don't blame me if he's gone fragile."

Chopper actually gaped at him. "Zoro!"

Robin crossed her arms over her chest, an unhappy little wrinkle between her eyebrows, but her eyes were full of pity. Zoro flinched from it. "Luffy, get out here! Let's go already!" He stalked off to find his missing captain, pushing roughly past Cook on the way.

He heard Allie murmuring to Nami behind him. "Tomorrow might be a better time."

"Oh, don't mind him. Let's go out and have fun."

Once more, they walked past the fishing huts on shore, through the cleft in the hillside and down into the forest. Twilight had already crept beneath the trees, but where the sun came through the canopy the air shimmered and sparkled. Zoro was restless, as were his swords. Kitetsu and Shusui were angry, he could feel them testing his control, slipping from him. What was wrong? As long as he was balanced and focused, he should be their master. Wado Ichimonji troubled him more, though. It felt … sorrowful.

Luffy and Allie were providing most of the conversation, but little by little, drawn by Luffy’s enthusiastic but badly prioritized account of their stay in Alabasta, Nami and Chopper joined in.

"The crocodiles were not growing out of the bananas! How stupid are you?"

It was a long walk. Zoro grew increasingly irritated with Cook’s hunched shoulders and meaningless silence. What did he have to mope about? What was the deal with him and Gently? Something had to be up, what was he hiding? It galled Zoro to think Cook didn’t trust his nakama with his troubles. It was inexcusable.

They walked together into town, separating once they were close enough to the university, where the ghost tour would start, for Luffy, Brook, Zoro and Cook to find their way there without Allie.

“Have fun, boys!” Nami shouted as they walked away.

“Make sure to come back!” Robin added pleasantly.

“I want to go with you!” Brook wept.

Luffy waved until they were gone, before jogging on ahead. “Here we come, ghosts!”

“He’s already met ghosts,” Cook muttered. “What’s he so excited for?”

Zoro shrugged. Their eyes met, and for one wonderful moment everything was normal.

They rounded the corner and came face to face with a stone castle, complete with a courtyard, but it was clearly the university; there was a Latin inscription over the doorway, and each of the three floors had a row of new, cut glass windows. A small crowd had gathered on the broad steps, surrounding a man dressed like an undertaker. The Straw Hats walked up to the back of the crowd. Luffy was bouncing excitedly up and down.

“Come closer everybody!” the undertaker tour guide said in his best scary voice. “The ghost tour is about to start. A word of warning before we go; this is not for the faint-hearted! They say you can hear the moans of the dead coming through the fog in the old graveyard, and mysterious figures have been seen in the windows of the tower. Are these the ghosts of the buried? What do they want with-”

Just then, Brook farted loudly. Half the crowd turned, caught sight of the tall skeleton with the afro, top hat and yellow boa, and began to scream. Some fainted, a few ran.

“Oh come on!” Brook sniffed the air. “It's not that bad.”

Luffy and Cook had to lean on each other not to fall over with laughter. Zoro covered his nose with his hand. "Damn it, Brook, where does that smell even come from? You don't have bowels!"

Brook twirled his cane. "I'm a mystery skeleton! Yohoho!"

"H-h-h-hey y-you! Who are y-you?" The tour guide was coming towards them step by hesitant step. "Is that some sort of costume?"

Brook opened his mouth to reply, but Cook grabbed his arm to stop him, and gave the tour guide a winning smile. "Yes! Good, isn't it? He just wanted to dress up for the occasion."

"Sanji-san!" Brook protested, offended.

"Don't complicate it," Cook mumbled back.

Luckily, the guide was eager to believe them, and quickly ran to assure the scattered crowd that it had just been a preview of the frights of the evening.

Zoro rolled his eyes. "If that's the courage of our intrepid guide, I don't think we're in for any real ghosts tonight."

Luffy's mouth turned down sulkily. "But I want to see ghosts."

"Sanji-kun?"

They turned as one.

It was Gently's purple woman. Where had she come from? She wore another elaborate gown, in light purple, but this one looked awkward on her, not because it didn't fit but because she slouched in it, like a doll with no one to hold her strings. Behind her glittering mask, her eyes were far-away and dull, and yet her expression seemed strained.

Zoro sighed hard and prepared himself for Cook going gaga, but when he glanced over at the blonde, he looked more apprehensive than heart-eyed. It was Luffy who stepped forward and peered curiously into the woman's eyes.

"You're Lethe, right? Did you come for the ghost tour? Let's be friends!"

"Oi! Don't go extending friendships so quickly!"

Lethe blinked rapidly at him, before her gaze was drawn back to curly-brows. "Sanji-kun, please come with me." She extended a hand.

Cook hesitated for a moment, before stepping elegantly over to hold her hand. “How could I deny a beautiful lady?” He kissed her knuckles.

Zoro didn’t like this. Lethe set off all kinds of alarms in his head. If anything, Cook’s compliance made her jaw clench even harder.

“Please come with me,” she said again, like he hadn’t already answered. “My captain desires your company.”

Curly-brows stiffened. “Jirou sent you?”

“My captain wants to see you, please come with me, Sanji-kun. I was sent to bring you to him.” Her voice was rising in volume, and she blinked at him fast, fast, the muscles in her face twitching.

Zoro took a step close and thumbed Wado Ichimonji a couple of inches out of its sheath. “He’s not going with you. Tell Gently he can come to us if he has something to say.”

“You don’t decide where I go,” Cook hissed.

“You’re going with her? Really?” Zoro asked disbelievingly. “Look at her, she isn’t right in the head!”

Cook took a threatening step closer but could go no further because Lethe was still holding his hand. “Talk about her like that again and I will kick your teeth in, asshole!”

“Excuse me, fair lady.” Brook tipped his hat to Lethe, who turned her head slowly towards him. “But how did Captain Gently know where to find us?”

Cook flinched as Lethe’s grip on his hand turned suddenly tight. “Please come with me, Sanji-kun!” she said loudly, looking at Brook. “I was sent to bring you to my captain!”

“Sure, my lady, I’m coming. Lead the way.” He gave his crew mates a shrug, half angry half apologetic. “Say hi to the ghosts for me.”

Luffy had his arms crossed over his chest and was tapping the ground with his foot unhappily. “Hey Sanji, you’ll come back, right? You said you’d make sea king omelette tonight.”

Cook grinned. “I’ll be back by tonight, Captain. Don’t worry.”

Shusui sang in its sheath, echoing Zoro’s bad premonitions. He watched with his teeth on edge as Lethe pulled Cook away into the twilight. Then he rounded on Luffy. “How can you just let him go?”

Luffy looked confused. “Why shouldn’t he go if he wants to?”

The fact that he couldn’t answer just made Zoro angrier. “There’s … Something’s up with Gently and his whole crew! With their creepy masks, and those two trigger-happy grandmas, and Gently with his … with his …” he trailed off, unable to describe exactly what it was about Gently that disturbed him so much. Maybe it was the sharp grin and the way his eyes glittered even in the dark. Maybe it was the way he liked to drape himself all over Cook like he had some kind of right to him or something. Maybe it was the way Cook let him.

Brook was nodding slowly. “I have to admit, Luffy-san, I don’t like them very much either.”

By now, the ghost tour crowd had begun to move. The Straw Hats followed slowly.

“Zoro. Brook.” Luffy had turned serious. “Do you trust Sanji?”

“Of course,” Brook said simply.

Zoro didn’t reply.

“Zoro?”

“I … Not when a woman is involved.” It was true, and also not relevant. Trust him to protect the crew. Trust him with your back in a fight. Trust him with everyone's safety ... except his own.

Wado sighed through his soul, a breath of frustration touching his centre, unbalancing him further.

Luffy hummed. “I wish Lethe had come on the tour with us; she looked like she needs to have some fun.”

“I still don’t call this fun,” Brook said. “I don’t want to see any ghosts.”

“There are no such thing as ghosts,” Zoro said firmly. At least he knew that with complete certainty. Devil fruit spectres yes, actual ghosts no.

They followed a road that slipped behind the university building and climbed up a hillside, and as the trees closed around them, it was almost like night had already fallen.

  
  ~~~~~~

 

"I swear, it's totally true."

"No way." Franky shook his head as he held the door open for Mara. "No way did you actually do that."

Mara was laughing. "I did! I was quite a wild thing in my youth."

Franky considered her with his chin in hand and lips pursed. "If you didn't have that spark in your eye, I'd say you were a dirty liar."

"Oh? I still have the bike actually. I can show it to you."

"My lady, you make my heart beat faster."

It was some time since Franky had been able to talk shop like this. Mara's work, though different from his own in many ways, was fascinating, and she was so passionate about it.

_"Father was the mayor of Arashi for many years. Mother was a respected professor at the university. I don't know how the two of them managed to produce such contrary children. I, for one, had neither father's ambition nor mother's intelligence. I wanted to shape the world with my hands, to make things that people need, things to make them happy. My sister Dadan meanwhile, wanted to rob people. Somehow, it's actually worked out pretty well for her."_

_For a moment, Mara's eyes had grown sad. "Life is strange. My youngest sister, little Rica, she was the jewel of the family. She wanted to save the world. She became a marine officer at a young age, and rose all the way to a captaincy. She had everything; ambition and intelligence, and a loving husband and good son. But she died young."_

Mara, Franky thought, was passionate about everything, but also deeply grounded. She had only been out to sea a few times, preferred to have solid earth beneath her feet, and that rock solid foundation had seen her through the loss of her parents, one sister taking off for parts unknown, the other sister’s sudden death, and the responsibility for Rica's child which had then fallen to her. Allie's father was absent for weeks at the time, always on duty for the navy, always sailing. Franky didn't feel sorry for Mara, though; it had been, and was, a good life she had. She also clearly adored Allie.

Usopp came outside then, having needed a trip to the bathroom after all the cola. He sighed with satisfaction and breathed deeply of the evening air, which was chilled and fragrant, sharp with salt.

It had gotten fully dark by now; they'd been talking for hours at a little table in a cozy pub in one of the streets leading down to the market square. Dimmed lights, bottles glinting on shelves behind the bar, smoke drifting under the ceiling ... Franky had felt quite at home.

“So, what’s next?” Usopp wondered.

“Mara says we can swing by her house and check out her bike.”

“Ah, that would be awesome! Count me in!”

"We’ll stop by Sybil’s shop first,” Mara said. “Let your crewmates know we’re leaving.”

Allie had popped into the pub a while ago to let them know where everybody was.

They swung down into the market square, which was still full of people even though over a third of the stands had closed up for the night. The crowd was also noticeably older. A new band was playing onstage.

“The bookshop is over there.” Mara pointed across the square towards another of the many streets leading up into the city.

“This whole island seems like a labyrinth to me,” Usopp complained. “How do you find your way around?”

Mara shrugged. “You get to know the place. My sisters and I ran these streets all the time when we were kids. Mother and father could never find us when we wanted to hide. For a child, this place is like a fairytale.”

“Fairytales are often dark,” Usopp said flatly. He looked back. “Hey, Franky, you coming?”

Franky had stopped. He was looking to where the Moon Citadel towered, still as a mirage on the water. The sun was setting behind it and casting its shadow all the way to shore. Someone was standing in that shadow, just on the edge of the wharf. No, not one … two, but standing very close together. Franky could hardly say what made him grab Mara and Usopp and pull them back into the darkness of the street they had just exited, but his gut told him to observe without being seen.

“What’s the big idea?”

“Hush, Usopp.”

“What is it?” Mara whispered.

There were too many people between them; impossible to hear anything.

“Come with me.” Franky ran up the street until he reached a corner, and then hurried down towards the quayside. Another corner and another street, and they could crouch behind some crates and look out at the water without being seen.

They were close enough to be sure of the figures in the shadow now. It was Sanji and Captain Gently.

Usopp elbowed Franky in the side, an act that must have hurt him more than it did Franky. “Why are we spying on Sanji?”

“I don’t know, now shush,” Franky replied.

"What's this about?" Mara asked. She had met Gently only briefly last night, but had turned down the invitation to join the party, on her own and Allie's behalf, despite Gently's enthusiastic praise of Allie's singing voice.

"We're not so sure we like this Gently-guy," Usopp whispered. "Though he's Sanji's friend."

 _He keeps claiming to be anyway_ , Franky thought.

"Huh," Mara said simply, a sound that contained some scepticism.

There were many couples strolling up and down the quayside, and they kept getting into Franky's line of sight, not to mention that their chatter made it hard to hear what the two men were saying. If only Robin had been here with her long ears.

“I thought Sanji was going on the ghost-thingy with the others,” Usopp whispered. “Why is he here?”

Sanji was speaking, with some urgency based on the amount of gesticulating he was doing. Suddenly, Gently threw his head back and laughed, the harsh sound carrying all the way to where the trio were hiding. He cut across Sanji’s appeal loudly; "The old man didn't let me go! I left the same night you did!"

“They’re talking about the Baratie,” Usopp said.

“Shush!”

More words, too soft to hear. Sanji was shaking his head. Gently had his weight on his heels, but even so Franky thought there was something predatory about him. He lifted a hand and traced it lazily through the air.

“I can’t hear what he’s saying,” Mara complained.

Franky shook his head. “Me neither.”

Gently moved forward suddenly, circling around Sanji, whispering to him. He finally stopped behind him, speaking into his ear. His hands came up and grasped Sanji's shoulders. It could be comfort. It could be a threat.

Sanji took a sudden step forward and turned. He was biting his lower lip savagely.

Gently said something more, and cocked his head to the side, waiting. After a long moment, Sanji nodded. Gently clapped him heartily on the shoulder and strode away down the jetty towards his ship.

Sanji stood still a moment longer, before running off into the crowd. They saw him again when he jumped up onto the top of a stall and kicked off into the sky from there.

"I think the bike will have to wait, Mara-san," Franky said, voice low. "We need to get the others."

"Those pirates have been nothing but trouble since they arrived," she said. "Not the kind we can make 'em leave for, but just ... trouble. Bad vibes."

Usopp stood up and took a few steps out of the alley to squint into the sky after Sanji. “Is he going back to the Sunny?”

Franky rose too. “I think so. We need to catch him there before he leaves again.”

Usopp looked at him with confusion. “Leaves again? What do you mean?”

Yes, what did he mean? Where did this bad feeling in his gut come from? What had they really witnessed? A conversation. An unhappy one, at least seemingly, but why? Was Gently the cause of it, or was he helping Sanji deal with it? Franky had plenty of reasons for doubt, but he had a gut feeling, and he was going with it. "There’s no time. Come on!" he hurried out from their hiding spot and ran towards the street with the book shops. "Lead the way," he begged Mara, and she quickly and efficiently weaved through the thinned-out crowd. The next bystreet was dark and empty, narrow and poorly kept, but a light shone in a shop window further in.

"That should be it."

“Franky, tell me what’s going on!” Usopp demanded.

The narrow door was locked, but Franky hammered on it until it was opened by a bespectacled woman with dark blue hair in a bun.

"Sorry," he said as he shouldered past her into the crowded interior. The shop was cramped with shelves, and books took up just about every available space, including most of the floor. Frank had to hunch not to knock something over. "Guys!"

Chopper's head popped out from behind a bookshelf, followed by Nami and Allie's.

"Franky?"

"Forgive our intrusion, Sybil," Mara was saying. "It ... might be an emergency."

"What's wrong?" Nami asked, stepping out to meet them. She had a book open in her hand.

“Yeah, Franky, what did you mean back there?” Usopp kicked him impatiently in the shin.

"Sanji-bro is in trouble," Franky said simply. "I think."

They were immediately all attention. Franky told them briefly what they had seen on the quayside. "He’s on his way back to the Sunny now."

"Without stopping by here, like we planned," Nami added, shutting the book in her hand. "That's not like him."

"If you ask me, he hasn’t been himself for a while,” Usopp said thoughtfully, arms crossed and chin in hand.

"Especially not since we came here," Chopper agreed. "And he saw that ship."

Franky stuck his head around a shelf and found Robin sitting on a stack of encyclopaedias with a small book of poetry in her hands.

“You heard?” he asked.

She rose and came to him, placing a comforting hand on his arm. "I heard." The two of them had been worried about Sanji for some time.

“It seems Captain Gently has made his move,” she said, addressing the whole room. “Sanji-kun is making his now. Whatever that entails, we need to go after him.”

Nami looked at Chopper. “You’ll get there fastest. Will you take me with you?”

Chopper nodded.

Then they would be the vanguard. Franky thought fast. “The Mini-Merry is down in the harbour. Usopp, Robin, will you take it back?”

“What are you gonna do?” Usopp asked.

“I’ll find Luffy and the others, let them know what’s going on.”

“I want to help.” Allie stepped forward.

“This is a private matter, Allie,” Mara admonished him. “We’d best get out of their hair.”

“They’re my friends,” he replied angrily. “Franky-san will need someone to show him the way to the graveyard.”

Franky gave the eager boy a quick smile. “No offense, Allie-kun, but I’ll get there faster on my own. I’d be happy if you would describe the way for me, though."

“We’ll do you one better,” Mara said and turned to Sybil. “Where do you keep your maps?”

Sybil disappeared behind the counter and commenced to rummage through what sounded like half a library’s worth of maps. When she reappeared, she was decidedly dusty and her bun was askew. “Here we are.” She spread a large sheet of paper out on the counter.

Mara, Allie and Franky bent over the map while Nami and Chopper thanked Sybil for her kindness.

"I'll come back tomorrow!" Chopper was saying.

"Then I'll hold those books for you," Sybil promised.

The ghost tour had gone to an old graveyard and ruin on a hilltop behind town. It was only a few kilometres away, and there was a clear path. “Shouldn’t take me long,” Franky said with satisfaction.

"We’ll go home," Mara said, giving Allie a stern look when he opened his mouth to object. “But we’d like to stop by in the morning to hear how it went.”

"And we still have a date with your bike," Franky reminded her. "I'm holding you to it."

"Absolutely," she agreed.

“We’re leaving,” Nami announced. Chopper was already on the street outside, transformed into his Walking Point.

“Stay another moment!” An impulse made Sybil hurry up the stairs behind the counter. They heard her running about in the apartment above their heads, before she came pounding back down the stairs. In her hands she carried two baby den-den mushis. “Use these.” She handed one to Franky and one to Nami.

"Thank you, Sybil! This is super helpful." Nami gave her a quick hug. She turned to Franky. "We'll call you once we find out what's going on."

Franky nodded. "Good."

"See you later, Allie," Chopper said as Nami climbed onto his back. In a moment, the cloppity-clop of his hooves on the cobblestones was fading to an echo.

"Will they find their way?" Mara wondered.

"Chopper-kun can use his nose," Allie explained. "He's incredible."

“We’re leaving too.” Robin stood up on tiptoe to give Franky a kiss. Her lips were cool, but her eyes were warm and supporting. Franky appreciated that, because he had just sent Nami and Chopper running for home, with Usopp and Robin right behind them, while he was about to haul ass to get the others, all for a gut feeling. If she believed in him, though, he wouldn't doubt himself anymore.

“Hold him until we can reach you,” he said. Luffy was the one they needed. Luffy who read minds and hearts, and knew the right thing to say.

She smiled tightly. “We will.” She turned to Sybil, holding up the little book of poetry. “May I take this with me?”

Sybil nodded. “We’ll square it later.”

Robin and Usopp disappeared into the night, but Franky turned back one more time. "Thanks for tonight, Mara-san."

Mara, Allie and Sybil stood in the doorway.

Mara waved him away. "Go help your friend.”

He took off at an easy jog.

“Good luck!” Allie shouted after him.

As soon as he was warmed up, Franky picked up the pace. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was about to happen, like a storm that had been building on the horizon was now ready to unleash itself on their heads. No matter the mild summer weather.

He found the university, and behind it, the path that rose towards the top of the hill and the ruins. He ran for a long time. The sun had gone down proper, and it was dark now, but the path was broad and straight, easy to follow. The thought struck him that it needed to be, because on this road, the people of Arashi Island carried their dead, to bury them in the graveyard above.

Suddenly he was free of the trees, and the ascent was over. Before him lay a shallow bowl filled with fog thick as rainclouds, but in the middle a weathered tower rose to pierce the sky. It was black in the dusk. Whenever the fog parted for a moment, Franky glimpsed crumbling gravestones and low stone walls. A perfect place for ghosts, but Franky was here for the living. He put his hands to his mouth and called. "LUFFY! BROOK! ZORO!"

There was movement in the fog, a group of dark silhouettes moving towards the tower, but no one called back. Franky hurried down into the bowl, slipping on the wet grass, and plunged into the mists.

Again, he called. "LUFFY!" but his own voice echoed back to him, warped beyond recognition. Every now and then a slim dark shape would reveal itself as a crooked, crumbling gravestone, the names that once gave it significance worn away by time.

From out of the mist, a tall figure rose, and an eerie music floated towards him. Despite himself, Franky felt a chill go down his spine. He aimed his right arm at the figure. “Come out, you ghoul, or I’ll punch you back into the afterlife.”

“Franky?” The mists parted to reveal Brook, with his violin cocked on his shoulder.

Franky dropped his arm. “I was about to take your head off, old man. What are you going around scaring people for?”

“Scaring people?” Brook repeated, outraged. “I’m playing to calm myself down! This place is awful!”

Franky opened his mouth, thought better of it and simply shook his head. “We don’t have time for this. Where is Luffy?”

“If I knew that I wouldn’t be wandering this place alone!”

Just then, Franky’s stomach rang.

Brook cocked his head to the side. “Why is your stomach ringing?”

Franky opened the fridge and took out the shivering baby den-den mushi.

“Why were you keeping it there?”

“Where else am I supposed to keep it?” He picked up the received. “Is that you, Nami-san?”

“Franky, get down here now!”

His worst fears were confirmed by her voice, at once furious and choked with tears.

“He’s leaving, Franky! He’s packing his bags!”

Brook took a step closer. “Leaving? Who is leaving, Nami-san?”

“Sanji-kun … He's leaving the Straw Hat crew!”


	4. Chapter 4

 

Great. They’d wandered off and left him. Zoro turned around on the spot, but nothing in this gloomy, empty place gave any indication of where he had come from. He couldn’t even see the top of the tower from here; it was hidden by the trees and the night. He must have wandered some distance from it, anyway, because there were no rock walls here. Around the tower they were everywhere, maze-like, some taller than a man, others crumbled almost to the ground. According to the tour guide, not even the locals knew what they had once been part of, but it was believed it had either been as series of buildings, or one big fortress with the tower at its centre.

He’d better just start walking. At least that would take him somewhere. Zoro took three determined steps forward and promptly tripped over a gravestone, planting his face in the dew-wet moss.

He came up spitting dirt. “Argh! Who puts a graveyard in a place like this?”

Actually, the guide had said it was quite lovely in sunlight. No chance of that for at least ten more hours, though. He got up and brushed off his chest and knees. He could have been home sleeping, or training, or needling Cook, but no, he had to come on this stupid ghost tour, and Cook wasn’t even here, he was off with his creepy new friend … old friend. Whatever.

“He is here.”

Zoro drew sword and spun around to face the speaker. His eyes widened.

A woman was standing in the mist. She had short brown hair and elegant features, but Zoro wasn’t as interested in her face as in the white greatcoat hanging off her slim shoulders. There shouldn’t be any marines on this island. Mara had assured them of that during dinner.

“Where did you come from?” he demanded.

“I feel his footsteps on Arashi’s shore,” she said, like she hadn’t heard him. She was staring off into the mist with wide eyes. “There is violence in his heart, in his hands.” Her hand fluttered, mist-like, towards her throat.

“You’re gonna have to be more specific,” Zoro said, working to calm his heartbeat. “This is the New World, there’s a lot of violent men here.” How many more marines were there? This close to the Red Line, who knew what kind of big shots could appear. Had they come for the Straw Hats, or did they routinely sweep the island for pirates? They must make easy targets here; exhausted after the journey from Fishman Island, trapped for four days waiting for their new log poses to set. But would Mara and Allie have kept something like that from the Straw Hats?

Her eyes focused on him for the first time. “Your heart is violence.”

He scoffed. “Yeah? Your people aren’t exactly fluffy bunnies either.” Her unblinking stare was beginning to unnerve him. From one moment to the next she was suddenly much closer, reaching out a hand towards Wado Ichimonji’s bright edge, tracing it with her fingertips.

“You wield her against the world.”

“What? Hey, don’t-” he backed up a couple of paces. “What do you want?”

She looked at him in silence for a long time. It was getting really uncomfortable when her chest suddenly heaved with breath. “He comes for my child! Save him! Save my child!” She started towards him with her arms outstretched, and Zoro backed up in alarm until his ankles hit another rock and he tumbled back into the moss.

From far away came a long cry. “Zooooro-saaan!” He recognised Brook’s voice.

“I’m here! Be careful, there might be-” He sat up. “… more of them.”

She was gone.

Moments later, Brook came running. Well, running and tripping over his own feet.

“Ow, my thighbone! Ow, my shinbone! Ow, my violin!”

“SLOW DOWN, STUPID SKELETON!”

“No time, no time; we have to go.”

Zoro sheathed his sword. “More marines?”

Brook stopped and gave him a confused look. “Marines? No, no marines.”

Zoro looked around again, but the woman was gone without a trace. He shrugged off the goosebumps rising on his arms. “Then what’s wrong?” he demanded.

Brook told him.

A couple of minutes later, Zoro, Luffy, Brook and Franky were running back down the hill as fast as they could go in the dark. Zoro had told them about the marine woman, but Luffy had decided they should leave it be for the moment.

_"Sanji is the only important thing right now. We can deal with the marines later."_

Zoro’s head was a mess of thoughts. An old bruise in his thigh had woken up and begun throbbing. It was where Cook would kick him awake when it was lunchtime.

_"Ow, ow, ow! Pick somewhere else for once!"_

_"Fine. I'll kick you in the head next time, wimpy swordsman."_

What was curly-brows thinking? Where did he imagine they would get a new cook from? Luffy might seem like he'd take any and all comers (especially if they were weird), but fate had decreed that their family would be small, each crew member filling a hole like they had been born to do so, and Luffy knew that, deep in the clever part of his very silly brain. No way were they gonna find someone as knowledgeable and talented in the kitchen as Cook. Not on this island. Not in New World. Fuck, not on the five seas.

Someone who knew everyone's favourite dishes, and would surprise you with them when you'd had a shitty day, even though you hadn't said a word about it.

Someone who bought the good kind of booze even after Nami had complained about the cost of it, and then pretended to have done it by accident because apparently he'd be damned before he admitted to doing something nice for Zoro.

Someone you could always trust to have your back, allowing you to forge ahead with unwavering focus. Someone to challenge you every day to keep you sharp.

Zoro ran straight into a tree.

"That looked like it hurt!" Franky said sympathetically as he helped Zoro to his feet. "I know you're directionally challenged, but the path really isn't that hard to follow."

Zoro pulled his arm out of Franky's metal mitt, grumbling to himself and rubbing his painfully throbbing nose. For once, he didn't dispute that he sometimes lost his way. It was a thousand times better than admitting that he'd been distracted by a sudden flashback to the last time Luffy and Cook had sparred on deck in the sun. How vividly Zoro remembered the way drops of sweat had run down the groove of Cook's spine. The way his chest had heaved as he caught his breath in the break, while tying his hair back to keep it out of his eyes. Zoro could easily recall the way those blue eyes had flashed as Cook chucked his cigarette and threw himself back into the fray with a mad grin. He was graceful and deadly in a way that made Zoro ... run into trees.

"Come on, you guys!" Luffy called them from up ahead. "Hurry!"

They ran, Zoro swearing to himself. Through town, where people looked at them curiously. Up the hill, past Mara and Allie's house, and down into the forest. They met no one. Finally, the cleft appeared before them, and they plunged through, stopping as one when they emerged on the other side.

Sunny looked deceptively peaceful on the still water. Small waves whispered and gurgled against the rocky shore, and the wind rushed up the hillside and howled through the cleft, cooling Zoro’s hot skin. They were all breathing hard by now, and were perhaps surprised to come home to no great commotion at all.

Robin sat on the railing below, dangling her legs and waiting for them. She waved. Franky and Brook exchanged curious glances, while Zoro and Luffy began walking down the road towards the ship.

No gang plank was lowered, so they simply leapt the side. Zoro, Luffy, Brook and Franky touched down in the grass, Robin slipping down after them, and there he was, standing at the other rail with his back to them, smoking a cigarette and watching the seabirds diving from the cliff face into the black waves. A travel bag lay at his feet.

Usopp was sitting on the mast bench with his arms crossed and head bowed.

Nami appeared on the top of the stairs. “Ah, everyone.” She seemed awfully composed as she descended to stand with them. She turned towards Cook. “They’re here, Sanji-kun. Thank you for waiting.”

“Of course.” He turned around, and the fucker had the audacity to smile. “Anything for you, Nami-san.”

Usopp snorted. “Anything except staying.”

Luffy stepped forward. “What’s going on, Sanji?”

Cook shrugged, slipping his hands into his pockets. “Jirou asked me to sail with him. He’s hunting the All Blue, just like me, and … he’s found a pretty good lead, so … I said yes.”

He had clearly already had this conversation with the ones who had followed him early. It worried Zoro that even Nami and Robin between them hadn’t been able to change his mind. It worried him that it felt like the cold night wind was blowing right through him, like there was a massive hole in his abdomen.

“So that’s it then?” Franky said. “You’re leaving us just like that.”

Cook blew smoke out the corner of his mouth to buy himself a second to think.

“I guess I just-”

“Where is Chopper?” Zoro interrupted him. He had just realised the reindeer was nowhere in sight.

“He’s inside,” Nami answered. “Crying.” She looked straight at Cook, who shrunk further.

Luffy’s emperor haki was pulsing outwards, pushing against Zoro’s consciousness like the weight of sleep. “You can’t leave, Sanji! We're nakama! There's no way we'll let you go!”

As if he had been waiting for those words, Sanji raised his head and looked his captain dead in the eye with an odd, hard little smile. “You will let me go. When we met at the Baratie, you told the old man you wouldn’t take me away if I didn’t want to go.”

Luffy flinched, a quick tightening around the eyes.

“So you’ll let me go,” Cook continued. He drew himself up, plucking out his cigarette and exhaling the last smoke. “I’m tired of chasing other people’s dreams. It’s time I got serious about my own.” He tossed the cig overboard.

Zoro walked closer slowly, pulled forward by a dark impulse. He felt the others draw back, felt Luffy’s will briefly testing his, a butterfly touch of power, a warning or a gesture of support, maybe both. Cook locked eyes with him, and turned loose-limbed and ready for the fight. There was heat in Zoro's veins and a trembling of fear deep inside him, but the anger in his head was in control.

_How can you leave!_

“You think that ship can take you farther across the five seas than this one?”

Another infuriating shrug, but his eyes strayed away. “I’ll take the chance.”

_You think he will care about you more than this family does?_

“What the hell does he offer you that we don’t?” It came out wrong and he knew he had lost his footing when Cook could suddenly glare at him again.

“How about a ship without you on it?”

“Agh, this is so stupid!” Usopp rose suddenly. “How can you do this to us, Sanji? We’re like family! We’ve just gotten back together! Are you really leaving Luffy now that we’re in deeper waters than ever?” He caught himself. “I mean … now that it’s finally getting exciting?”

Cook’s whole face went soft with affection and it was so different from the way he always looked at Zoro that Zoro’s heart did a curious, painful flip.

Usopp actually stomped his foot on the grass. “We’re gonna find Raftel together! We’re gonna make Luffy King of Pirates! We’re gonna sail the whole world and find Robin’s poneglyphs and make Nami’s maps! We’re gonna meet Laboon again! And we’ll find All Blue, of course we will! How can you even think about …” His eyes were welling with tears, his voice growing thick. “How can you leave?”

Cook was blinking fast, mouth working. “Usopp …”

“Give up, Sanji.” Luffy was calm, but his face was deadly serious. “We’ve been through this before. Usopp tried to leave, Robin tried to leave, and we didn’t let them. We fought the world to get them back, and we’ll fight anyone and everyone to keep you too.”

Cook’s brows furrowed into a frown. He bent down suddenly and grabbed his bag from the ground, slinging it over his shoulder. “No you won’t,” he said testily. “I’m sailing with Jirou once morning comes, and when your log poses settle you’ll take a different path and forget about me.” He stalked past them all and jumped up to stand on the railing that faced the shore.

“Why?” Luffy demanded.

“Because Usopp left to protect Merry, and Robin left to protect the crew.” He firmed his jaw. “But I leave for me.”

Nami sighed, frustrated. "Sanji-kun, we don't-"

They stopped when they heard Zoro sliding two swords out of their sheaths. Zoro was dizzy, and his stomach was aching, heart beating hard against the inside of his ribcage. "You're not leaving," he heard himself say.

Cook frowned at him. "What the hell are you gonna do? Kill me?"

"You'll have to go through me."

This ... this would take care of it. This would restore everything to normal. Zoro felt a weird, mirthless grin stretching his lips. They would fight, they were great at that, and somehow the language of violence would tell Cook what Zoro couldn't say, was only beginning to understand himself. He would make Cook see. Wado would speak for him.

"No."

Zoro blinked, surprised. "What?"

Cook shook his head slowly. "No. I ..." He looked down, hand clenching at his side, before suddenly bursting out. "I'm not gonna risk everything fighting a stupid moss-ball!"

"Sanji..." Usopp said, approaching the railing.

Nami too was reaching for him. "Sanji-kun."

He cut them off. "Captain." He looked at Luffy, and the false cheer was back. He smiled and it was like he had put on a mask. "Luffy. Give me permission to disembark."

Zoro's swords turned to lead in his hands, their tips sinking to the grass. This couldn't be happening.

Luffy shook his head slowly. "I can't do that," he said, voice cracking. He rubbed at his eyes, which were tearing up. "I won't."

Cook sighed. He looked around at them all, smiling with sudden, genuine love. He looked at everyone except Zoro. "Guys. You'll be fine. Sail to Raftel. Make your dreams come true. I promise I'll be very happy where I'm going."

Lastly, briefly, his eyes flickered to Zoro.

"Hey," he said.

Zoro couldn't reply; his tongue was big and awkward in his mouth.

Cook scuffed the toe of his shoe against the railing. "Take care of Chopper?" One last time, he smiled, a brief tug at the side of his mouth. He bowed to Luffy. "Thank you for taking me to sea with you, Pirate King."

The crew could only watch, speechless with loss and confusion, as he turned away from them.

"Goodbye."

He kicked off from the railing, lading lightly on shore. He began to walk away.

Zoro was still standing dumbly with his swords in hand. Everyone seemed to be frozen, unable to process what had just happened. He couldn’t actually be leaving. They were supposed to have stopped him. Why hadn’t they stopped him?

Then the door to the men's quarters burst open and Chopper came running outside, his face a mess of tears. The little reindeer threw himself at the railing and yelled after the retreating figure.

"SANJI! SAAAANJIIII!"

Luffy was next to him a moment later. "SANJI!"

Usopp too, tears streaming down his cheeks, took up the call, and then the whole crew were shouting his name, leaning over the railing and yelling themselves hoarse. All except Brook, who stood back thoughtfully, and Zoro, who had never spoken the name out loud, and found that by now it was almost impossible, though it fluttered inside him like a caged butterfly, looking for a way out.

Like in a dream, he wandered to the railing, sheathing his swords automatically. Cook wasn't stopping, not even looking back. Zoro climbed up and planted his feet. The others fell silent, looking up at him. Was this his last chance?

_I think I'm in ..._

Fear roared in him, silencing the thought, but ... He watched the slim figure climbing the hillside. In a moment he would be gone.

Zoro drew a deep breath. "COME BACK, SANJI!"

But it was too late. Cook had disappeared in between the abandoned houses. He probably hadn't even heard him.

Zoro felt skinned, terribly vulnerable under his nakamas' surprised and curious eyes. The taste of the name lingered in his mouth.

"I will be back," Brook said unexpectedly and leapt from deck, running after Cook with singular intent.

"Brook! What are you doing?" Nami shouted after him, but he ran on, and was soon out of sight.

“Why? Why did he leave us?” Chopper dissolved into tears again.

Usopp sat down in the grass like he’d forgotten how his legs worked. “I can’t believe it …”

Luffy bent his head and pulled his hat down over his eyes.

Robin pulled her hair over one shoulder, a rare, girlish gesture, but the look in her eyes made the animal in Zoro wary. She glanced sideways at him, her eyes pinning him. He was uncomfortably aware of finally understanding what it was she had known about him for so long.

Her eyes narrowed. “I have an errand, Zoro-kun,” she said tonelessly. “Would you be so kind as to accompany me?”

Her tone brought to mind the hot, dry air of Alabasta, and the spices and sweet perfumes of Water 7, reminding Zoro of how dangerous she could be. He gave her a short nod.

“Good.” She looked around. "Don’t give up, everyone.” She looked at Luffy especially, and her expression was hard. “We will not lose each other again.”

Luffy breathed in, and when he exhaled he was back, her certainty restoring his own. “We’ll wait for you here. Don’t be long.”

“Aye, aye, Captain.”

Zoro followed Robin over the railing without looking at anyone; he wasn't ready to confront what they knew or did not know about him after his earlier display. He had lost control, and he didn't like it.

They walked in silence up the familiar road. Zoro waited for Robin to explain their “errand”, but she was focused inward, walking ahead of him like she had forgotten he was even there. It was hard to make her out in the dark under the trees. She walked in complete silence, gliding through shadow and moonlight, ghostlike. In contrast to Robin’s intent calm, Zoro felt restless, unable to distract himself from his thoughts. He wondered how far ahead Cook was. Had Brook caught up with him? Would they run into them somewhere down the road?

So. He was in … Well, he was … He felt …

… Oh boy. Still a little hard to admit.

Zoro sighed harshly, angry with his own weakness. If his feelings were true, then denying them was foolish. What he needed to do was accept this part of himself, and decide what to do with it.

Robin had heard him. “What is it, Zoro?”

He shook his head. “Nothing.”

She seemed to deliberate for a moment before speaking. “That was quite a declaration back there.”

How did she manage to be embarrassingly frank and tactfully subtle at the same time? And why was he still surprised, after knowing her for so long?

Zoro cleared his throat, awkward in his own feelings. “What’s this errand we’re on anyway?”

He could just make out her smile, but she allowed him the change of subject. He was going to need a little more time to process all of this, that was all.

From the pocket of her jeans, Robin pulled a small book. “It’s about this.”

“What is it?”

“A poetry collection. Gently quoted it to Sanji last night. I thought I had heard the lines somewhere before, so I checked the bookstore and found this, but apparently, Sanji has never heard of the poem or the poet before.”

“And you believe him? He’s not exactly reliable right now.”

She chuckled. “You think he could have lied to me?”

They walked side by side for a time.

“Why do you think it’s important?” he wondered.

“Because it’s about an albatross.”

“That shitty bird again? I swear it pops up everywhere.”

“It is certainly central to this story,” she agreed. “The poem is about a sailor who befriends an albatross on one of his voyages. The bird seems to bring the ship good luck, but then, halfway through the poem and for no explained reason, the sailor shoots it. It has horrific consequences for the whole crew, but the sailor survives the voyage, and lives to pass on his cautionary tale.”

How specifically appropriate. “Weird.”

“It gets stranger. As a symbol of the sailor’s guilt, the crew hangs the dead bird around his neck, and what is the symbol of Arashi Island, sold on every corner and in every shop?”

“Uh …”

He _felt_ her roll his eyes at him. “A necklace with an albatross pendant. Many of the locals wear one, including Allie-kun and Mara-san, haven't you seen it? I was going to ask Allie about it in the store, but I didn’t get the chance.”

Zoro recalled the market stall from yesterday, and Cook staring at the pendants on their little stand like he was looking into the past.

“So we’re going to ask Mara and Allie about the poem?”

Robin nodded. “Sanji and Gently’s past, the albatross that looms between them like a ghost, the two of them meeting on this particular island … It’s all too much to be simple coincidence.”

That was for sure. “And I am here because …?”

“I thought you needed some time away to think,” she said innocently.

Oh, she was far too clever. “Thank you.”

They walked in silence, picking their way carefully on the narrow path winding up the hillside, until they were through the final stretch of wood and rounding the bend in the road that led to Mara’s farm. There were still lights on in the windows of the little cottage. Robin knocked on the door.

Heavy footsteps from inside announced Mara. “That had better be you, brat!" they heard her say. "You are in so much trouble!”

Robin and Zoro exchanged a wondering look.

“It’s Nico Robin and Zoro, Mara-san. May we come in?”

They listened to the sound of several locks being opened, and then the door swung outwards. Mara frowned at them, before ushering them inside with a narrow-eyed look for the night beyond.

“It’s a good thing you came. Did things work out with lover boy?” she asked as the guests took off their shoes. She was wearing a big, comfortable-looking sweater, and old slippers on her feet.

“He’s gone to join the Gently Pirates,” Robin informed her plainly. “But we’ll get him back. That’s why we’re here.”

Mara frowned at them. “I’ll help however I can, but you’ll have to help me in return.”

“Is something wrong?”

Now that they had a chance to look at her, the old woman looked a little disturbed.

“You’d better come see for yourself.”

They followed her into the warm, well-lit living room, where, to their surprise, Lethe was sitting on the sofa with her hands folded in her lap and a cup of tea on the table in front of her.

The two Straw Hats were instantly wary. “What’s going on, Mara?” Robin asked.

“You tell me.” Mara put her hands on her hips and looked critically at Lethe, who looked back at them placidly. “I was just going after Allie when this one stumbled into my path. She seemed a little out of it, so I brought her home.”

Zoro eased his hand around Kitetsu’s hilt. “Why would you do that? She’s one of them.”

“Maybe, but it's not my style to turn my back on someone in trouble.” Mara looked doubtful. "Though what kind of trouble she is in I'm not sure. She doesn't talk much."

“Wait, Mara-san, what do you mean you were going after Allie? Where is he?” Robin asked.

Mara looked confused. “You mean he's not with you? … He couldn’t settle down, said he needed to make sure everything was alright with you lot. I told him to get his bottom to bed and wait for morning, so that stubborn brat climbed out the window and took off. I thought he’d go straight to the Sunny.”

Robin shook her head slowly. “Allie isn’t there, and isn’t on his way there either, unless he knows a better path than the one we took; we didn’t meet him.”

"There's always a path. Maybe he took one I don't know about to throw me off." But she looked a little pale.

Zoro was more interested in Lethe, who was looking up at him with her creepy, unblinking stare. He stepped forward, looming over her. “What are you and your slimy boss up to?”

“Go find the Straw Hats,” she said quietly. “I had orders. So I went to find you. Needed to find you.”

“You’ve found us. Now what?” Zoro asked, cold fury in his spine.

She opened her mouth, but made no sound. Closed her mouth and opened it again. Looked around helplessly, noticed the tea cup and picked it up, taking a drink.

Zoro drew Kitetsu half out of its sheath. “I said: now what?”

Lethe drank more tea, looking up at him with infuriating calmness. Zoro bared his teeth.

Robin’s hand on his shoulder startled him. He became aware of the way his rage was filling the room, making the air hard to breathe and the lights seem dimmer. He exhaled slowly, sheathing his sword again.

But Lethe had caught sight of the book that Robin had in her hand, and her eyes were suddenly wide. “The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew, the furrow followed free,” she chanted. “We were the first that ever burst into that silent sea.”

Robin and Zoro drew back in surprise.

“You know the poem,” Robin said in quiet astonishment.

“That sounded familiar,” Mara commented.

Robin handed her the book. “I’m glad. I came here hoping you would know it.”

Mara turned it over in her hand. “Oh yes, I know this. The kids still learn it in school; the author visited Arashi a long time ago, and was inspired to write the poem.”

Lethe rose with a sudden movement, startling them all. She seemed excited, her scrawny chest heaving with new breath. “I pass, like night, from land to land. I have strange power of speech,” she said excitedly to Robin, coming closer and taking her hand. “That moment that his face I see, I know the man that must hear me. To him my tale I teach.”

Robin studied the woman’s smiling face with interest. “You know it by heart.”

But Lethe was blinking, seeming disappointed. “To him my tale I teach,” she said again, a little more firmly. “To him my tale I teach!”

“Are you crazy?” Zoro demanded, frustration mounting.

Robin shook her head. “It’s almost like she can’t-”

A loud knock on the door startled all four of them.

“Maybe it’s Allie?” Mara suggested, but didn't sound like she believed it herself. Shy Allie wouldn’t knock on his own door like that. Even so, she wasted no time going to check. Zoro and Robin remained behind, listening. Lethe was looking intently towards the hallway, standing ramrod straight like she was listening too.

There was no familiar Allie-voice, no scolding tone from Mara, just quiet conversation, and then the door shut again, and Mara came back.

“Your friends are here for you,” she said to Lethe.

“It’s Baba,” Lethe said calmly. “Baba and Dorian.”

Mara’s brow furrowed. “It’s an old hag on a giant cat.”

“That’s what I said,” Lethe replied, the most human-sounding thing Zoro had heard her say. “Thank you for the tea.” She left the living room.

The others followed her outside, where Baba Demona was in fact waiting astride the giant cat from last night.

“Big kitty,” Robin said with quiet awe.

Baba was in a bad mood. “We searched for you everywhere, crazy girl,” she spat. “Been on a merry chase across half the island. What’d you wander off for? Captain never said for you to, did he.”

Lethe walked across the gravel, but half way to her crewmates she stopped and turned back to Robin. “And till my ghastly tale is told, this heart within me burns,” she said.

“Shut up, crazy girl,” Baba yelled. “Get over here! Spouting that stupid poem.”

Lethe jerked as if on a leash, and stumbled over to the cat, taking Baba’s offered hand and climbing up. The poor cat looking harassed under the weight of the two women.

“How does a cat get that big?” Mara wondered.

Zoro was watching Robin, waiting for a cue to action, but the hard little smile was back on her face, telling him to stay back. She stepped forward.

“You know the poem?” she asked Baba.

“Yes.” The old woman glared suspiciously at Robin.

“This is my lucky night,” Robin said sweetly. “You’re going to tell me what it has to do with your Captain and our Sanji.”

“Am I?” the old woman wondered with a grin of her own.

“Mhm.” Robin crossed her arms, and two hands grew out of the cats head to scratch it behind the ears.

Baba stared at them. “Disturbing.”

“What’s the story behind the albatross?”

“Haven’t the foggiest,” Baba answered tartly. “Didn’t _your Sanji_ want to tell you?”

Another hand grew from the cat’s chest to scratch its chin. The cat purred, confused but pleased.

Baba got the message. She wiggled her nose, sniffed, and pushed her uniform jacket back from her hip in a seemingly casual gesture, revealing a blunderbuss in a holster. So she could and would fight if it came to that. Zoro didn’t move; he would leave it up to Robin to escalate the situation if she wanted to. Should she need his help, he’d be ready.

But Baba did not need more prompting. “Let’s see … It’s true I’ve got no idea what the bird is about. We’ve always had it, Captain’s always liked it, and he’s fond of his poetry. Makes Lethe read it to him all the time.”

Zoro got the impression she was talking to them because she felt like it more than because she felt threatened in any way.

She held up a wrinkly finger. “However! I know a little something of the two boys’ shared history. You might have noticed they’re a little awkward with each other despite the happy reunion.” She licked her teeth, savouring the chance to tell a story. Zoro began to fear where this was going.

“They were bosom buddies once, that’s true, companions in thick and thin. Then something happened which _might_ have involved the bird somehow, and they fell out. Far as I know, your Sanji killed the thing and blamed his best friend. Poor young Jirou was thrown off the floating restaurant with nothing but the clothes on his back.”

“That doesn’t sound like Cook,” Zoro muttered. Strangely, Mara murmured in agreement, despite having only known them a couple of days.

Of course, there was Gently’s comment last night about old Zeff’s favouritism of his little eggplant … but no, it couldn’t be right.

Robin seemed to be of the same opinion. “You see why we would be a little sceptical, don't you, Miss Demona? It's hard to believe something like that about ones' family. I'm sure you understand."

“Don’t talk to me about family,” Baba said darkly, all traces of humour gone from her face. “You know nothing about me, and little enough about your sweet curly-browed boy. I tell you the story as it was told to me. He lied to the Head Chef to make him throw Jirou out. Does it matter what caused the first rift between them?”

“She didn’t scream,” Lethe said suddenly, fingers straying across her throat and along the edge of her mask. “Poor thing. She had no time.”

Baba looked annoyed. “Enough from you.” She elbowed Lethe’s hands away from her mask. “Captain’s ready to eat you alive as it is.” She grabbed one of Robin’s extra hands and shook it mockingly. “Nice knowing you, missy.” The hands dissolved. Baba grabbed the cat’s left ear and yanked on it cruelly, making the animal turn around and stalk away. “One more thing!” the hag shouted back at them as they disappeared into the night. “HE ISN’T YOUR SANJI ANYMORE!” Her screaming laughter faded as the cat broke into a run.

Mara crossed her arms over her chest. “I do not like her.” She turned back to the house.

“What now?” Robin asked, almost to herself.

Zoro rolled his shoulders. Mostly, he felt like going down to the harbour and cleaving the Moon Citadel in two.

“Now,” Mara answered when she returned with proper shoes on. “We go look for Allie. Yes, you two get to help me, since you’re the reason he’s out this late. Come on.”

“Wait, Mara-san, let’s go back to the Sunny first,” Robin suggested. “We can’t be sure he isn’t there, and if he isn’t, we'll find him faster with more people looking.”

“Chopper can probably track him down,” Zoro added.

Mara deliberated for a moment, before sighing and nodding firmly to herself. “Alright.” She locked the door to the cottage and hid the key under a bush in case Allie came back while they were gone.

“I’ll tell you something interesting,” Mara said as they walked. She was striding along at a surprising pace for an old woman with short legs. “The hag was lying.”

“You think so?” Zoro said sarcastically.

“I know so,” Mara replied undisturbed. “Gently wasn’t thrown off that boat. He admitted as much himself, only a few hours ago.”

"He did?"

Mara filled Zoro in on the details that Franky, in their haste up at the graveyard, had left out.

“We didn’t hear much,” Mara said, “But we did hear Gently say he left the … what was the name? Baratie? Thank you. He left the Baratie of his own volition. _The same night you did_ , that’s what he said. Whatever that means.”

“At first I thought this was a case of old guilt,” Robin said thoughtfully. “But whatever Sanji thought he had done to Jirou, lying about him to the Head Chef or something else, if it turns out he was mistaken, why would Sanji still leave us? Even if it was true, how could that be enough to drive him away? We’re his nakama.”

Zoro was surprised to hear her voice tremble, but of course this would affect her deeply; the Straw Hat crew were her first real family since she lost her people.

“We don’t know enough to draw conclusions,” Zoro said to calm her. “This whole story is a mess. We’ll go back to the others and come up with a plan.”

More and more, his heart was growing steady again. Yes, thinking of Cook alone on that black, bloated ship filled him with a murderous rage, but his confusion was clearing up. There was no point in denying the truth about his own feelings, frightening though it may be, and having faced it and accepted it, he could put it aside and focus on the important thing; getting Cook back and kicking his ass back to Little Garden for leaving them in the first place. As for what he should do with his feelings afterwards ... No, no, that would have to wait.

“Come on.”

They hurried forward, and were rapidly approaching the cleft in the hills when, from behind, they heard a faint cry.

“Everyooooooooone.”

“Is that …?”

A cloud of dust was coming down the path behind them.

“Luuuuuuuuuuffyyyyyyyyyy-saaaaaaaan!”

“How can he run and yell at the same time? When does he breathe?” Mara wondered.

The cloud of dust grew. They waited for it to catch up.

Between one blink of an eye and the next, Brook had rushed past them. They heard a faint “Guys?” and then the skeleton ran straight into a tree.

Zoro rubbed his own still faintly aching nose in sympathy. Of course, Brook didn’t have a nose to bruise. Skull joke.

“You guys!” Brook said from where he had fallen over. “I’m so glad I found you! Mara-san, you’re alright! I was so worried!” Brook was breathing like he’d run a long way.

“Worried about me?” Mara helped him rise. “Why would you be?”

“I went to your house, but it was empty. I thought maybe they had gotten you too, or worse.”

Zoro was looking back along the path, but no one else was coming. “Where’s Cook?” he asked Brook.

Brook cocked his head to the side in confusion. “He’s with the Gently Pirates. That’s where he was going. Weren’t you paying attention, Zoro-san?”

“But you followed him. You went to bring him back, didn’t you? What the hell did you do; walk him there?”

Brook grew still. Slowly, seriously, he nodded.

“WHAT?” Zoro was shocked. “Didn’t you even try to talk him out of it?”

“No,” Brook said quietly. “I said nothing. I walked with him until we reached the harbour. Then I watched as he went on board the Moon Citadel.”

Zoro growled. “Are you trying to piss me off? Why the hell would you just walk him there?”

Brook glared right back at him. “Because I didn’t want him to be alone!”

Zoro’s heart jumped uncomfortably.

"Sanji-san has been feeling down ever since we came to this island," Brook continued. "I wanted to do something to let him know we still have his back."

Zoro kept his mouth shut and looked away.

“But there’s something more important I have to tell you,” Brook said, turning to Mara. “It’s Allie-san. I saw him on that ship. He was wearing a uniform like the other pirates, he even wore a mask. I waved to him, but he looked right through me. Mara-san, why would Allie join the Gently Pirates?”

Mara turned deadly pale, and the Straw Hats had to dart forward to catch her when her knees gave out. She sank down onto the path, panting and holding her chest like it pained her.

“I take it you were unaware,” Brook said apologetically. “I am so sorry.”

Robin looked back towards the city. “Now we know where he is, but how did he end up there? He never said anything to indicate he wanted to join the Gently Pirates, or go to sea at all.”

Zoro knelt by Mara. He was inclined to believe the worst, but they had to check every possibility. “Did he ever dream of becoming a pirate? Mara, is there any chance he chose this of his own free will?”

She shook her head. “No. Well, he admires pirates. Has done ever since … But he would never join Gently, not my Allie; he saw right through that slime ball from the start.” She struggled to her feet. “I have to go to him.”

“No, Mara-san, please.” Once again, Robin held her back. “First we gather the crew and formulate a plan, then we go together to save Allie.”

“Get out of my way, Robin, or so help me-”

Robin looked Mara in the eye and spoke with complete conviction. “Luffy would never let Gently take Allie away. They can’t sail until their log poses set in the morning, and before then, Luffy will move heaven and earth to get our boys back. I know this, because that’s what he did for me.”

Mara breathed in, exhaled. Nodded a little unsteadily. “Alright.”

The Straw Hat crew were waiting on deck, not even pretending to do anything useful. They'd apparently been discussing Sanji's goodbye up and down trying to figure out what had made him do what he did, but were no wiser.

"Hey, Zoro!" Chopper yelled angrily at him as he climbed onboard. "Did you say something mean to Sanji? Did you?"

"You mean today?" Zoro asked, scratching his cheek and pretending like he wasn't listening. "Probably." He let Chopper chase him in circles around the deck for a while. As long as he was angry, he couldn't be sad, right?

If nothing else, the news of Allie's recruitment dried any tears that were left in the fires of rage.

"Raaaah!" Luffy planted his feet apart in the grass and beat his fists at the heavens. "I'm gonna kick Gently's ass!"

Nami was pacing back and forth, arms crossed over her chest and fingers plucking restlessly at the neck of her blue sweater. "But what does Gently want with Allie-kun?"

Mara, seated on the mast bench, was suddenly very interested in the brandy at the bottom of her tumbler. "Allie is a good kid, hard-working, kind; any crew would be glad to have him."

"But you say he didn't want to become a pirate. What would make Gently risk not only further provoking us, but also bringing the Navy down on his head through Allie's father?"

"Maybe that's what he wants," Luffy suggested. "Maybe he wants a bounty?" He cupped is chin in hand thoughtfully. "He must be sad that he's come all the way to the New World without getting a bounty yet."

Usopp chopped him on the head with a flat hand. "Not everyone thinks like you do, stupid."

"It's a good point, though," Nami said. "What kind of pirate can make the voyage from the Grand Line to the New World without earning a bounty on the way?"

"A really stupid one?" Luffy said. Usopp karate-chopped him some more.

Nami's eyes narrowed. "Or a very, very clever one." She turned to Mara once more. "Are you sure Allie doesn't have something or know something that would make him valuable enough for Gently to run the risks?"

Mara stared stubbornly into her glass.

Robin sat down next to her. "Mara-san, all we want is to bring Allie home safe. He's our friend. Won't you trust us?"

Mara pressed her lips together indecisively. "It isn't my story to tell."

"Would it help if we had already guessed some of it?" Robin asked.

Mara looked up at her.

Robin smiled kindly. "Like that Allie never asks questions?"

The rest of the Straw Hat crew exchanged glances. Was that something they should have noticed? Sure, Allie sometimes talked a little slowly, or seemed awkward, but Zoro, at least, had thought the kid was just shy.

"Clever missy," Mara said without heat. She sighed, putting the tumbler aside. "He's gotten really good at watching himself, but he gets so excited when he's with you guys, he keeps forgetting. He hasn't slipped up, though, has he? " She looked around, giving them a chance to speak up, but no one did.

Luffy sat down next to Zoro in the grass.

"What happens when Allie asks questions?" Nami asked.

"People answer," Mara said simply. She sighed again. "It's a long story, and we don't have time to waste, but I suppose you ought to know the bones of it." She drained her tumbler and held it out for a refill.

"Allie's childhood was quite happy. He never had many friends, there were few children of his own age around, but he had two doting grandparents and, I will admit, a rather doting aunt as well. His parents loved him above everything, but they were away for weeks and even months at the time, and he was often alone. He ran wild on the island, learned its secrets, and knew everyone in town. If he didn't come home for dinner, I would call Josephine, who always knows what everyone in town is up to, and she'd tell me if Allie was having dinner with the Yadaga family, or if Hugo the baker had slipped him a pie out of his shop."

She was already misty eyed, looking far back into the past.

"But when Allie was thirteen, tragedy found us. It's four years ago now, but I remember the day well. It was high summer. I was in the forge. The cicadas were singing in the grass, loudly enough to be heard even over the roaring fires and my ringing hammer. I looked up when something blocked the light from the doorway. It was Rafael, come home completely unexpectedly. I took one look at his face and knew what he had come to tell us."

Mara's mouth tightened, voice thickening. "Rica had gone to Dawn Island in the East Blue to visit family, but she never made it. A fisherman found her washed up on a beach. Her throat ..." She stopped, swallowed, closed her eyes. "Her throat had been cut."

Nami placed a supporting hand on Mara's.

Tears welled up in Luffy's eyes, but he didn't make a sound.

"Rafael and I ... we made a mistake that day. We couldn't bear to tell Allie the truth; he adored his mother, she was his hero. We couldn't tell him she had met her end so ignobly, so we lied. We told him she fell bravely in battle. We should have known better; my Allie is no fool, he sees deeply into people. He knew we were lying, and the shock it gave him, coming on top of the grief of his loss ... it did something to him. He hid himself away and nourished his grief alone, not even letting his father comfort him. He lost faith, and grief turned to resentment. He was angry at the world for taking his mother from him, and angry at us for betraying him. Who could he trust if his guardians were false? So when a passing merchant ship boasted of a devil fruit that gave you the power to get the truth from anyone you asked ... Allie stole it."

Mara turned her hand over and gave Nami's hand a grateful squeeze before letting it go. She was pale, but composed. "Afterwards, Allie showed up at the house with a strange, fierce look in his eyes, and he asked me how his mother had died. I opened my mouth and out poured the truth, in full. I had no control over my own words. I was shocked, but the truth, completely uncensored and unsoftened, shocked Allie more. He ran away. Perhaps he had thought the truth would somehow heal him, or even bring Rica back. Instead, the world had been revealed as a cruel place, and he could only be cruel in return."

She seemed almost to wake up for a moment, looking around and clearing her throat. "But I run on. I needn't go into detail about the next few months, and I don't want to, but let's just say Allie turned his stolen gift into a curse on the island. He pried people's secrets from them, not out of spite, but desperation. He saw liars and murderers everywhere. Soon, he could barely show his face in town at all, for people became wary of him, and angry. Rafael and I hunted for him all over the island, but our old paths were overgrown, and only Allie knew the new ones. He hid well."

A small smile appeared on her face suddenly. "Luckily, someone came to pull my boy back into the light, and this is a story I have from Allie himself. Back then, Whitebeard was already our protector, and he was always spoken of with admiration and praise as a good and honest ... well, pirate. Allie had never seen him, however, and in his state of grief, he began to distrust Whitebeard's reputation. So when the man himself sailed into town one day with his massive fleet in tow ..."

"He didn't," Nami said. "He didn't."

Mara nodded, looking quite proud. "Allie decided to expose Captain Whitebeard for the evil man he must surely be behind the mask of the benefactor."

Usopp's jaw was hanging somewhere around his navel. "B-b-b-but Whitebeard was the greatest pirate of our time! He was equal to Gol D. Roger! He had a fleet of ships and thousands of pirates under his command! What was Allie thinking?"

"How did Allie even plan to get near him?" Zoro added.

"There was something self-destructive about the whole thing," Mara said darkly. "When I learned what he had done I gave him a lifetime of house arrest." She noticed their confused looks. "Oh, he got off on good behaviour about a year ago. The way Allie told it to me, there wasn't much of a plan involved. He simply rowed out to the biggest ship and climbed on board, intent on confronting Whitebeard."

"What happened?" Nami asked.

"He snuck around for a while, overheard that Whitebeard was on the foredeck, and then on his way there he took a wrong turn and ended up in the kitchen, where he was discovered. Now, if this had been any other pirate crew, he would likely have been made into dinner."

"Ew."

"Instead, he was offered a cup of cocoa by a cook, and plopped down at a table next to Whitebeards 1st Division Commander."

"Marco," Luffy mumbled excitedly. He was beginning to grin.

"Who struck up a conversation." Mara sounded like she had been deeply unimpressed when Allie had told her this story. "Allie went ahead and demanded an audience with the captain. This got such a laugh out of the pirates present that the tables shook. Mr 1st Division Commander asked Allie what he wanted with Whitebeard, Allie said he wanted to ask him a question. They wanted to know which question, Allie said they'd have to wait and see."

The Straw Hat crews' respect for Allie was quickly rising. Mara noticed. "You can stop looking so impressed. It was the pigheaded stupidity of a teenage boy and nothing more. I almost wish Marco had tossed the kid out on his ass, taught him a lesson. However, the pirates were amused, and decided to take the boy to see their captain. I don't know if you have all met Whitebeard, but I can tell you even your courage would have paled in his presence."

She looked sideways at Luffy. "Well. Probably not yours."

"Shishishishi."

"Allie was brought out on the foredeck and pushed out in front of a crowd of infamous pirates and their massive old man of a captain. Marco told Whitebeard that Allie was a local and had come to ask him a question. Whitebeard bent over Allie and looked down at him with an unreadable expression. _What's your question, boy?_ he asked. And so Allie demanded of Whitebeard why he had decided to protect Arashi. Allie fully expected Whitebeard to confess that he intended to extort the people, demand tribute, or that it was a tactical decision to further his own power."

Mara smiled. "But the truth that came from the old man's mouth was something quite different. _You needed me_ , he said." She sighed. "Allie was ... overcome. He asked more questions in rapid succession to try to pry into the man and discover the monster underneath, but there was no monster. The other pirates quickly realised Allie had some kind of power and moved in to stop him, but Whitebeard held out a hand, holding them back, and slowly and patiently he answered every question. His answers were wise, kind, honest, sometimes brutally so, but it was what Allie needed, I think. My boy couldn't sustain his rage at the world once he had been so thoroughly proven wrong; not everyone hides behind a mask, and not everyone is secretly out to hurt you."

She sank back against the mast, drained after reliving the emotional story. "Marco walked Allie home to me. I was more relieved to see him than I have words to describe. Allie wept with me over Rica, and I had a chance to apologise for the lies. We forgave each other. Rafael asked his bosses for a leave and came home soon after, so we could finally begin rebuilding our lives again. However, Allie had hurt a lot of people, and not everyone were ready to forgive him. He has spent a lot of time earning back the townspeople's trust. That's why he takes care never to ask questions anymore, even innocent ones. He still doesn't know how to turn his power off."

"There is one thing left," Nami said a little cautiously. "If it's okay to ask, Mara ... What happened to Rica? Did they ever find the murderer?"

"No. They suspected the old man who found her, for a while. He disappeared right before the authorities came, and they had only his word that he had found her on the beach. It soon turned out that none of the locals had seen him before. From his words and his clothes, they assumed he must be a fisherman, but he had a peg-leg, so he could have been a pirate. Of course, peg-legged old sailors are as common as seagulls on the five seas, so even with a detailed description, the Navy never found him. We've had to reconcile ourselves with the idea that we'll never know what really happened."

"What was the description?" Usopp asked, voice toneless. "Of the old man." Zoro wondered if Usopp was thinking what he was thinking, what all the East Blue crew was probably thinking, even though it was, as Mara had pointed out, a ridiculously small chance.

Mara raised an eyebrow at him, before shrugging. "Ach, the wooden leg was the only thing worth a damn, but if you must know, he had blonde hair streaked with gray, a big, unkempt moustache, and a hard, weathered face."

Usopp licked his lips. "Do you know which leg he was missing?"

Mara's eyes narrowed. "If you lot know something ..." They didn't reply. "It was the right," she said, like she was laying down a challenge.

"What's up, guys?" Franky asked, a quiet reprimand in his tone; he didn't like that they were keeping something from Mara.

"It could be anyone," Nami said, looking at Luffy, Usopp and Zoro like she wanted them to believe it so she could too.

"I don't believe it," Luffy said, voice low but firm, already clearing his friend of all suspicion. Zoro was not ready to judge so quickly for either side.

Usopp shook his head like he was trying to dislodge the idea that had taken root there. "No, no, no, he wouldn't do something like that! It's crazy!"

"Enough." Zoro looked at them all in turn, sternly. "You're forgetting your heads. All we have is a description that sounds familiar. Don't make judgements when you know nothing."

Robin's keen eyes were flitting from one to the other, putting the puzzle together. "There is no evidence to suggest the fisherman was guilty. Cutting a throat is the work of a calculating killer; someone like that would hide the body and leave, not carry her to civilisation and get himself irrevocably associated with the murder, and if he was the kind of killer who wanted attention, he wouldn't have let four years pass without a word."

Several relieved breaths were released.

"However," Robin continued. "That does not mean the old man was not involved." They all looked at her. She was leaning back against the railing next to Franky, her slender arms crossed over her chest. "And if he is who you believe him to be ... it would be another strange coincidence in a long line that has led us and the Gently Pirates here to this island at the same time."

Mara stood up. "Are you saying they are involved? Are you involved?" She looked like she would have liked to have her hammer in her hands.

"We're speculating," Zoro said with annoyance. "We don't know a thing."

Nami hummed in the back of her throat. "But say for a moment that our old man is the old man, and he really did find her on the beach, being a good man, he probably would bring her body to somewhere they could take care of her."

"If he's such a good man, why did he leave before the authorities got there?" Mara demanded.

"To keep suspicion away from himself," Nami answered simply. "He used to be a pretty infamous pirate; they would have blamed him."

Zoro got up to pace. He was beginning to get angry himself.

"And who's to say he didn't do it, this friend of yours?" Mara asked.

Luffy was shaking his head. "He wouldn't."

"How do you know?" Mara asked again, loudly. She was beginning to lose her composure.

"Her throat was cut. The old man would never use a knife as a weapon. It would go against everything he stands for."

"Why are we even entertaining the possibility that he's involved?" Zoro asked angrily.

Robin held up her book. "Because of the albatross."

Zoro punched the wall hard enough to leave a crack.

"Oi! Not cool, Zoro-bro!" Franky pushed him to the side to inspect the damage. "I'll make you scrape barnacles for a month, you brute!"

Zoro ignored him, rounding on Robin. "I'm sick of that stupid bird. What the hell does it mean?"

Nami gave Robin's book a narrow-eyed look. "You mean ... what if the albatross is not an albatross?"

They looked at each other.

Chopper, who had been sitting next to Usopp all this time, quiet except for the occasional sniffle, apparently found all this too much. "How can you think such a thing about Sanji! He would never murder someone! He can't even bruise a woman and you know it!"

Nami puffed up her cheeks. "Of course we don't think he did it! I didn't mean that!" She frowned. "But that exchange bugged me; the way Gently asked which one of them killed it ... the way Sanji answered ... Something wasn't right."

Mara sank back down on the bench, clutching her heart again. "This is too much for me. I can't keep up."

Luffy rose, and stood before them as their captain, hands on his hips. "There's no point in talking about it; we're not gonna figure it out that way. Let's just go ask Sanji."

"We've tried that," Zoro pointed out. "It didn't work."

"Then we didn't try hard enough," Luffy said ruthlessly. "We're gonna find out why Sanji left, and why Allie joined up with Gently too."

"It was a good lesson Whitebeard taught Allie," Brook said quietly. "But now we're dealing with someone who is hiding behind a mask, and who is out to hurt us, and we can't let him get away with it, or with our boys."

Nami bit her fingernails in frustration. "Gently is clearly trouble, and yet Sanji-kun said nothing. What was he thinking?"

Usopp flopped back in the grass. "And who did he expect would feed Luffy in the morning?"

Nami turned pale like she suspected it would fall on her.

"We should go ask Gently if he has a cook to spare." It could have been a joke, or not; it was often hard to tell with Robin, but in this case, it provoked only one reaction, silence, as the Straw Hats looked at each other with the same wild idea shining in their eyes.

Luffy put his hat back on his head with a dark grin. "Usopp. Get me a gun."

Usopp bounced up onto his feet. "Aye, aye, Captain!"

"Make it a big one."

The look on Luffy's face made the hairs on the back of Zoro's neck stand up and his blood run faster. The time for talk was finally over.

  
  ~~~~~~

 

_"Look, I'm sorry! I'm sorry I lied to Zeff about you! I'm sorry I ran away! It was cowardly."_

_Jirou cocked his head to the side. Slowly, his mouth widened to a grin. "I'm not following you now, Sanj."_

_What?_

_"I ... I told Zeff you were stealing from the customers. That you wasted food! So that he would let you go. And then I left. I couldn't face up to what I had done, so I took my ship and went on a supply run. When I came back you were gone."_

_Jirou stared at him, grin growing. Suddenly he threw his head back and laughed. He laughed like a whole murder of crows were in his throat. "WHAT? And you've been carrying the guilt with you for four years? Four years, thinking you drove me from the Baratie." He laughed like a maniac._

_"What the hell are you laughing at?"_

_"The old man didn't let me go!" Jirou almost roared. "I left the same night you did!"_

_Sanji froze, eyes wide. "... why?"_

_Jirou calmed down, but his smile had razors in it. "That's for another conversation, Sanj."_

_Sanji shook his head. "But if Zeff never ... then that means I didn't drive you from the Baratie after all. Then what the hell are you harassing me for?"_

_"You're not too bright, little eggplant." Jirou's heavy-lidded eyes watched him with pleasure. "But you don't need to understand. Just know that you're under my heel, and that I'm going to crush you slowly."_

_Sanji stared uncomprehendingly at the monster wearing the face of his old friend. But then again, had he not seen that monster before? On a day long ago, when their friendship changed. He forced himself to laugh. "You're fucking insane. You're gonna fight us? You have NEVER been able to beat me, and my friends are all monsters."_

_"I admire the close bonds that tie your crew together," Jirou said. He traced the air as if he could touch the strings that went from heart to heart. "Bonds of loyalty and love ... and trust."_

_He sighed affectedly. "But no fortress is unassailable, right Sanj? Your Captain seems to think he can solve any problem by punching it, but you have more brains than that, I think. You can beat a man, even kill him, but you cannot stop a secret from being whispered to the world."_

_Sanji's insides grew tight. "You have nothing."_

_"See, it's not your homosexuality that they-"_

_"I am NOT ... that!" Eyes darting around hoping no one had heard._

_Jirou frowned at him. "Try telling that to someone who hasn't fucked you. But I think your friends are the liberal kind; they wouldn't care who you choose to love." His voice dropped to a dangerous rasp. "No, what they would struggle to swallow are your lies. Years and years of lies." He dragged the word out like a snake's hiss. "Your Captain is an idiot, but he has an honest heart. He doesn't care much for cowardly, deceitful people, does he. People like you, Sanj."_

_Sanji couldn't breathe._

_"Not only have you lied to them, you have turned on your own people, desperately afraid to be exposed for what you really are."_

_"STOP IT!"_

_"Oh Jirou, please don't tell them about what we were back then." He twisted his voice mockingly. "I'm not like that anymore, please keep it our secret." He snarled triumphantly. "Lies, Sanj, lies and cowardice."_

_"They'd forgive me! Something so small could never break us apart!"_

_Jirou let the statement hang in the air just long enough for Sanji to begin to doubt it, and then he shrugged._

_"In the end, that really doesn't matter."_

_Sanji didn't want to hear any more. "What's happened to you? We were friends!"_

_Jirou pretended not to hear him. "No, the real problem will be your ultimate secret. The big one."_

_Somehow, he knew what was coming. "It isn't true."_

_"Tell me, Sanji, how do you feel about Roronoa Zoro?"_

_Sanji shook his head. "I couldn't care less about him!"_

_"I understand; those three words, they don't come easy to you. Not when you mean them, and definitely not when the man you love can barely stand the sight of you."_

_It was so stupid. Stupid that it should hurt so much to hear that, even from a stranger._

_Jirou sighed. "He'll be disgusted, of course, but he'll decide to be the bigger man, and try to ignore it for the sake of keeping the peace. But he won't be able to. Once he knows the truth, he'll start to notice." He began to circle Sanji slowly. "How you look at him. How you lust after him."_

_"Stop it." Sanji was becoming very small. He could see the look on Zoro's face, the disgust and disappointment. He had seen it before._

_"It'll make every interaction painfully awkward; he will always be examining your words and gestures for hidden meanings, and guard his own words lest he gives you the wrong impression, and his insecurity will spread to the rest of the crew. Until one day, he won't be able to take it anymore; Roronoa Zoro will leave the Straw Hat Pirates. And though they'll say it's not your fault, of course it isn't, they would never even think that ... they will blame you. Slowly the sores in their hearts will fester."_

_"No."_

_He leaned in and whispered in Sanji's ear. "Until they hate you."_

_"No!"_

_"Straw Hat Luffy will never achieve the dream he boasts of, because his crew is going to tear itself apart, and it will be all your fault."_


	5. Chapter 5

 

"How do you feel about Roronoa Zoro?"

The reply crowded up his throat and spilled out even as he choked to keep it down. "I love him." Humiliation burned from the roots of his hair to the pit of his stomach, making him nauseous. What was happening to him?

"One more time. I didn't quite catch that."

Sanji shook his head, hands cradling his throat like he could hold the words in. "What's going on, Allie?" Was it a devil fruit? Sanji couldn't imagine what else it might be that could force the words out of him like this.

On every wall, row upon row of masks looked down at him. Brightly coloured, glitter-and-ribbon faces with spectral eyes. Jirou's fingers tap-tap-tapped against the top of the mahogany desk, but the papers, blotter and inkwell were only props, the toys of a young man pretending to be older. Lethe stood beside the door, eyes far away.

"How do you feel about Roronoa Zoro?" Allie asked again.

"I love him." He coughed, bending forward. "Allie!"

Allie looked completely transformed, his sweet mouth twisted in cruel pleasure. Behind his black half-mask, his eyes glittered coldly. "Stop mumbling, Sanji-kun. How do you feel about Roronoa Zoro?"

"I love him!"

Allie laughed harshly, grabbed Sanji's shoulders and pushed him to his knees before bullying himself onto Sanji's lap. "Forget about him, Sanji-kun. He'll never love you. Come to sea with us and I'll be your lover." He bit his lower lip teasingly. The lamplight played in the fine gold lacing on his mask. "Remember when we met? You liked me then. I'm pretty, aren't I? I'll be good to you like he never was."

"What's wrong with you?" Sanji demanded, grabbing Allie's forearms and holding him at bay when he tried to lean in. "What about your aunt? What about your dad?"

The sound of a chair scraping over the floor. Jirou's footsteps coming around the desk. "The boy has his own reasons, Sanj, just like you. Don't be mad if he wants to play with you a little."

Sanji looked up. He was so confused. Should he run? Should he fight? He couldn't do anything until he knew what was going on with Allie. Allie, who had been the one to take his hand and pull him onboard, to lead him below deck to this room.

"Ask him again," Jirou said, laughter in his voice.

"How do you feel about Roronoa Zoro?"

"I love him!" Sanji shoved Allie away and rose to his feet. "Why are you doing this, Jirou?"

Jirou sighed, considering Sanji with sudden solemnity. "Allie, can you leave us alone for a moment?"

Allie nodded and immediately turned on his heel, heading for the door.

"Hey, Allie, wait!" Sanji stepped after him, but Jirou slid smoothly in between them.

"Stay a moment, Sanj. I have a present for you."

Sanji glared. "What is your game? What do you want with Allie?"

"Forget the boy for a moment," Jirou said, reaching into his pocket. "I want to talk about old times."

 

_They were hiding out in the fish head submarine, stealing a moment of privacy. They'd been kissing and cuddling, and yeah, what of it? Even Sanji enjoyed a cuddle every now and again. Especially after getting off._

_"Hey, Sanj?"_

_Sanji just hummed in response, too languid and satisfied to give it more effort. Jirou's head was tucked into the crook of his neck._

_"Teach me some of your moves?"_

_"... huh?"_

_"You know. Kicking and stuff?"_

_Uneasiness stole over him. He shifted a little in his seat. "I don't know, Jirou. I don't think that's a good idea. The old geezer wouldn't approve."_

_"Why not? What's wrong with it?"_

_"I don't know. Drop it, Jirou."_

_Jirou sat up, looking earnestly at Sanji. "I just want to be able to help out. Everyone on this ship are so strong. I want to be able to fight like you guys ... with you guys, to protect the Baratie. It's my home now." He fell back against his own seat with a sigh, hunching up his shoulders. "Nobody here thinks I'm worth anything. I'm just a stray you brought home, a starving dog that outstayed its welcome, only ever good for taking orders and carrying plates. You don't know what it's like to be looked down on like that."_

_"You're not looked down on, you dumbass. You're just ... the new guy. They always pick on the new guy. Just wait until a new new guy shows up."_

_Jirou shook his head. "They don't like me, Sanj. I ..." He glanced at Sanji before shrugging hard and looking away. "Nah, forget it. You'll laugh."_

_Sanji rolled his eyes, his post-orgasmic bliss forgotten "I'm not gonna laugh. Talk. Or I'll kick your ass."_

_"See?" Jirou replied accusingly. "Even you use it against me! It's not my fault I haven't lived a rough life on the high seas, or been mentored by a legend of the Grand Line."_

_"Just tell me."_

_Jirou sank a little further down in his seat and mumbled, "I just want to prove myself, okay? I feel like the geezer is just waiting for me to break under the strain, give up and leave. I want to show him that I'm serious about this job and about this restaurant." He looked at Sanji. "And someday that I'm serious about you too."_

_Sanji gave in, how could he not? But he went to bed with an aching stomach._

_They trained whenever they could find the time and a quiet place to do it. They agreed to keep it a secret between them until Jirou was ready to debut his new skills. Sanji suggested it, saying it would give Jirou a chance to surprise everyone. When asked, they admitted to training together, but just in a general way. Jirou got some pats on the back and a "good luck, kid" that Sanji thought were supportive and Jirou thought were condescending._

_They avoided discussing what Zeff might or might not think about what they were doing. Sanji’s reluctance was due to a tangled mess of reasons; he felt that as a student himself it wasn’t his place to pass on Zeff’s teachings, and frankly he was jealous of his place as Zeff’s pupil and didn’t want to share it. Preoccupied with his own feelings, he forgot to wonder what Jirou's reasons were. His stomach-ache persisted._

_But it was thrilling too, to have another secret to share, and to see Jirou grow stronger and faster day by day. He was a very quick study, and his progress made Sanji feel proud as his teacher. Eventually, he began to feel like he had been ready after all, and almost dared to imagine that Zeff would be proud too, when the time came._

_Time passed, they were not caught._

_And then Jirou began to grow sullen. This was not an unusual mood for him, but this time he sank deeper than usual. He didn’t want to fool around, he was rude to the customers, and put less effort into training. The chefs began to notice; Carne pulled Sanji aside to ask what was wrong with Jirou, and even Zeff took to watching them and stroking his moustache, narrow-eyed._

_Finally, Sanji hauled Jirou away from the dining room by the ear and took him somewhere private to talk sense into him._

_“What’s up with you?”_

_Jirou glared. He even pouted! “You’re holding back on me.”_

_“What?”_

_“You think I can’t tell? We’ve been doing the same moves for weeks. I’ve mastered them, Sanj, and you know it, but you don’t want me to get any better.”_

_“That’s such crap! Have you been glowering at the customers for a week over something stupid like that?” But a sore pulse beat in his wrists; it wasn’t entirely untrue. They had reached the limit of basic training, all Jirou needed was to strengthen and develop everything he had been taught. They should be moving on to more advanced stuff, but Sanji was reluctant. He kept waiting for them to get caught, and his old doubts were returning; Zeff had entrusted these special techniques to Sanji, they weren’t yet his to pass on. He knew that._

_“So what are you gonna teach me next?” Jirou challenged him._

_“You’re not ready for-”_

_“I knew it! It's just like I thought.” Jirou snorted derisively. “You’re a real good friend, Sanj. True blue.” He turned away with a harsh sigh. “It’s fine. It’s not like I have any right to ask this of you. I’ll figure something out on my own.” He looked down, shoulders hunching. “Maybe it’s time to admit I just don’t fit in here.”_

_“I’ll teach you the Mouton Shot.”_

_Jirou looked at him with a mixture of scepticism and hope. “Oh yeah? What’s that?”_

_“It’s a finisher. It’s more powerful than anything you’ve seen me do before.”_

_“Really?” Jirou grinned. “That would be awesome.”_

_Jirou was happy again, but Sanji felt worse than ever._

_It took Jirou another week to learn to execute the move, and that was just in theory. They had to be careful when they sparred to avoid any tell-tale damage or bruising. Jirou had a good grasp of the mechanics, but lacked strength; a few weeks of training couldn’t hold a candle to Sanji’s years. Even so, the new move was well received by Jirou, leaving him in high spirits. A little too high even. Sanji began to grow uncomfortable with how excited Jirou was by the speed and power of the Mouton Shot._

 

Out of his pocket, Jirou pulled a necklace that he let dangle in front of Sanji’s face. It was one of those albatross pendants that they sold in the stalls up at the market square. This one looked a little faded though, probably old.

Sanji's stomach clenched. "I don't want it."

"It's special. I want you to have it."

"What's special about it? It's just old."

 

_It was evening, and the sun was a big orange ball on the horizon, but overhead the sky was white, and wisps of pink cloud drifted high up there. Sanji and Jirou were hanging out on the roof, though they were supposed to be sitting in the two crows’ nests; Jirou had volunteered them both as look-outs. Below, the rest of the crew were busy catering to the largest party of guests they’d had for a long time; a whole ship of marines. Sanji hadn’t wanted to leave, but Jirou had wheedled and needled until he gave in._

_Zeff hadn’t looked very pleased, but allowed it._

_“We’ll make do.”_

_It hurt Sanji that the old man thought him so easy to do without, and he was paying Jirou back by smoking in sullen silence. Jirou, on the other hand, was on some kind of high. He was dancing around on the roof, jumping and kicking after the gulls that swarmed around them._

_“Come on, Sanji, don’t just sit there.”_

_He swooped down, nabbed the cigarette out of Sanji’s mouth, gave him a kiss and danced away with the cig._

_“Oi! Give it back, freeloader.”_

_“Come take it back, you pussy.”_

_Sanji went after him, but was shocked to find himself stopped by a foot to the chest. He looked up to find Jirou looking oddly serious, his heavy-lidded eyes glittering in the sunlight._

_“Good poise,” Sanji said, falling into teaching mode while Jirou took a satisfied drag of the cigarette._

_Jirou grinned, winking._

_Sanji decided to put him in his place. “But where are you going from here, exactly?”_

_He gave Jirou two seconds to start worrying, before stepping back and kicking upwards hard, hitting the back of Jirou’s raised knee and making him slam back onto the roof._

_Jirou arched with a grimace as pain radiated through his back. “Agh, fucker!”_

_Sanji picked up his cigarette where Jirou had dropped it, tapped away the ashes and took a long drag. “Come back in a few years time, maybe you’ll stand a chance, Jirou-kun.”_

_Jirou climbed to his feet. “Nice one, Sanj.” There was something a little off about his expression, something a little frantic in his eyes. “Let’s try that again.” He attacked suddenly, and with greater speed than Sanji had thought him capable of, but there was never any doubt who would win. Sanji dodged, blocked, and with a single, well-placed counter-kick to the stomach he sent Jirou sliding all the way to the edge of the roof._

_“Come on, Jirou, quit it. It’ll be a pain to explain to the old man why I beat you up, so let’s leave it.”_

_Jirou flopped over onto his back. He was breathing hard. Above them the gulls swooped, laughing and screaming. A single albatross sailed with them in slow, wide circles, undisturbed by its smaller cousins' rude behaviour. Sanji realised he’d probably hurt Jirou’s pride. “Hey, come on, get up. We’ll train some more. You actually really impressed me with that attack. You’ll master the Mouton Shot too in no time and then you’ll be stronger than most of the kitchen crew.”_

_“I’ve already mastered it.”_

_“Pfft. Yeah, okay, don’t get cocky.”_

_Jirou rose slowly. His short ponytail was coming undone, strands of hair hanging down into his face. “I’ll prove it to you, Sanj.” He grinned._

_Sanji cocked his head to the side. “What’s with you?”_

_Jirou looked different. Crazier. He raised an arm, pointed up. “See that albatross up there?”_

_Sanji raised an eyebrow. He put his cig out against the bottom of his shoe. “Yeah, I see it.”_

_“Watch this.”_

 

"Look again." Jirou made the necklace turn until the albatross was facing away. Three letters were etched into its back. _To R._

"It belongs to someone," Sanji said slowly, still not sure where this was going. "So maybe you should give it back to the person it belongs to."

Jirou chuckled, a grating sound, and pressed the pendant into Sanji's hand. "Take it. You'll get it eventually." There was a hard, excited light in his eyes, and a spring in his step as he began to trace the rows of masks on the wall. “It's almost time, Lethe.” He chose a mask and took it off its hook, bringing it to the desk where he began rummaging around for something.

Sanji turned the necklace over in his hands. He’d seen them on several people around the island. Allie and Mara each wore one. But even before that, when he and Zoro had first come across them in that booth, there had been a frisson of familiarity to them, like he’d seen them somewhere before.

_To R …_

A sudden knock on the door startled him.

Jirou too paused for a moment before calling “Come.”

Baba pushed the door open and lounged in the doorway with a surly expression. “Ship ahoy, Captain.”

“Oh?” Jirou crossed the room to look out the door.

“Think they've come for breakfast?” Baba joked.

A memory stirred in Sanji’s mind.

_“That's a lovely necklace.”_

_"It's the symbol of my island; they sell it in every shop, but my son gave me this one, so it's special."_

“The Straw Hats are here for you, Sanj,” Jirou said. He had a small knife in his hand and was idly toying with it. “I think we should invite them onboard, don't you? So they can satisfy themselves once and for all that you've made your choice.”

Sanji looked down at the necklace again. “To R.” A weird suspicion crept into his mind. "Jirou ... why did you leave the Baratie?"

"I want you to take your sister out of sight," Jirou said to Baba. "You understand, don't you?"

Baba's mouth twisted in displeasure. "Yes, Captain." She left.

"Hey, I asked you a question," Sanji said a little louder, clutching the pendant.

Jirou grimaced and rubbed his temple like he had a headache.

"What are you planning?" Sanji yelled.

“Lethe,” Jirou said simply. He twirled the little knife between his fingers before setting it to his palm. "Do it now."

"Poitrine Shoot!" He kicked out against Jirou's chest.

And was shocked when his foot was stopped dead by Jirou's raised knee.

"Did you think I would neglect what you taught me?" Jirou tutted. He stood perfectly balanced on the other foot, applying just enough force to stop Sanji in his tracks.

"You've been training," Sanji said, cursing himself for not anticipating this.

"This is nothing. Wait until you see what other tricks I've got up my sleeve."

Lethe lay a hand on Sanji's arm. The last thing Sanji saw before he lost his senses was Jirou making a shallow cut in his own palm.

   
 ~~~~~~

 

The Sunny sailed up next to the Moon Citadel, broadside to broadside with the pier between them. Franky turned at the wheel to give Luffy a thumbs up, confirming that they had landed. Luffy gave him a nod in return. The rest of the crew came climbing down from their various tasks to gather with Mara and Zoro on the deck and look up at the ship looming over them.

The black lacquer shone; the Moon Citadel was alive with light as always, but it could have been a ghost ship, because all sounds of life were missing from the scene. The harbour was mostly quiet in this small hour, the lapping waves and creaking ships the loudest noises to be heard, and that was odd considering the mastodon ship with a hundred people on it. Where were the running footsteps, as half-awake sailors scrambled to ready themselves for a confrontation with a potential threat? Where was the rumble of cannons rolling over floorboards, orders being shouted from man to man? Zoro palmed a sword hilt and breathed deeply, all his senses trained on the ship, but the sense of life it gave off was muted.

"Are they still sleeping?" Usopp whispered. "Are they still there?"

"Maybe the ghost of vengeance has come to claim them all," Robin said hopefully.

Usopp made an unhappy sound.

Luffy looked over his crew once, gathering and readying them silently. Then he climbed the railing, fat blunderbuss tucked into his pants. He inhaled mightily.

"HEY, GENTLY! WAKEY, WAKEY! I WANT TO TALK TO YOU!"

For a long moment, nothing happened. Then a cloaked and masked figure appeared above to lower the gangplank and beckon them onboard.

Luffy wiggled his nose sceptically, and threw a questioning glance back at his crew. Mara nodded like it was no question at all. Zoro shrugged, as did Nami and Robin. Usopp and Brook shook their heads. Surprisingly, Chopper was with Mara this time, nodding determinedly despite the potential danger.

Franky decided it by volunteering to stay behind and watch the ship.

They walked up the gangplank in a long file.

A hundred cloaked and masked pirates were waiting for them, tall and short, wide and thin, but only different the way shadows were different, for their colourful clothes had been put away in favour of the black and gold uniforms, and even their riotously colourful masks seemed gray and muted in the dusk.

As one they moved to open a passage through the crowd, and Gently came striding down it towards the Straw Hats. There were dark circles around his eyes, but the pupils were alive with light. He made them an elaborate bow.

"Did you come for a last goodbye, Straw Hat?"

Before Luffy could reply, Mara pushed her way to the front of the crew, planted her feet and gave Gently a glare that would have sent most men running. "Where's my Allie, you miserable sneak? I want to see him right now!"

"Aunty?" As if on cue, Allie pushed his way through the crowd, as mild and sweet-faced as ever, but dressed in the black-and-gold, with a tricorn hat and a black mask stamped with golden lace. He took off the hat as he came and threw his arms around Mara's neck, giving her a long hug. "I'm so glad you came to see me off."

"See you off?" Mara pushed Allie to arms length. "What are you talking about? I'm here to take you home! What is this nonsense? What are you wearing?"

She reached for the mask, but Allie stepped quickly out of reach, hands up to shield his face from her touch. "No, Aunty! I'm going out to sea. You can't expect me to stay on this little island forever, I need to see the world." He sighed. "Like my parents."

"Your parents?" Mara echoed incredulously. "You'll meet your father on the other end of a cannon if you go with this lot! Don't jump on the first pirate ship you see!"

"Yeah!" Luffy said. "Join my crew instead."

"That's not what I meant."

"I've made my choice," Allie said, his head high. "And if you can't understand it, maybe you don't know me as well as you think."

Mara's hands tightened into fists. "Oh, I know you, and you're not yourself." She turned to Gently. "What have you done to him?"

"You shouldn't have come, Luffy-san," Allie said. "You'll just waste your breath. When the morning tide comes, we sail."

"Allie is right," Gently said. "But I assume you'll want to hear the same from Sanji's mouth as well." He opened his mouth to call for Cook, presumably, but Luffy interrupted him.

"What? No, we didn't come for Sanji. Sanji wanted to leave, so Sanji left. That was his choice. No, I came cause I have a question for you." He pulled the blunderbuss out of his pants. The crowd seemed to grow a little, darken a little, become a little more menacing. The Straw Hat crew tensed, each member subtly reaffirming the position of their weapon.

"A question?" Gently asked slowly.

"Yep," Luffy said, cocking his blunderbuss. "I wanna ask you to have a Davy Back fight with me!" And he raised the gun and pulled the trigger, making Gently's hat fly off his head amidst a lot of smoke and confusion.

“YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO SHOOT HIM, LUFFY!” Nami knocked Luffy over the head so hard he fumbled and almost dropped the gun.

Luckily, Nami's rage seemed to have forestalled any other reaction, as the Gently Pirates didn't move.

They heard familiar cackling from above. Apparently, Baba thought her Captain getting shot at was funny. Zoro looked up. Three pairs of eyes looked down from the middle mast platform. One pair was large and yellow.

“I didn’t even hit him,” Luffy complained, pouting.

“You fire the gun when you’ve both agreed to play, you bonehead! You've done this before!"

Luffy picked his nose. "I don't remember."

Gently bent down and picked up his hat, and when he rose, the look on his face silenced the argument and made Nami take a step back. He was pale as a sheet, except for two blotches of colour in his cheeks, and his eyes were livid. Limp strands of hair hung down around his face. “Why,” he hissed, “should I gamble with you, when I have already-”

"Captain!" Furia's shout from above made Gently whirl around. The old lady climbed down from the platform, taking her sweet time. Zoro wondered how old she was. She was certainly wrinkly enough, but had a certain core of steel to her. She weaved through the unmoving crowd.

"I want a word," she said.

Gently looked ready to bite, but let her steer him some distance away without a word.

Zoro gave Robin a meaningful glance. She gave him a subtle shake of the head. There were too many people watching for her to use her powers secretly. So the Straw Hats could only watch and wait.

Mara took Allie's hand and implored him with whispers of her own to stop this nonsense and come home, but Allie, subdued and dull-eyed, continued to refuse.

Meanwhile, Gently listened to Furia with high shoulders and clenched teeth. As she spoke, however, he began to relax, and then to seem interested. A series of quick whispers, nodding, and they seemed to have come to an agreement.

"How many coins were you thinking, Straw Hat?" Gently asked as he came striding back, the pleasant smile returned to his face.

"Two," Luffy said, fishing them out of his pocket and holding them up. "I wanted three, but Nami wouldn't give me more."

"Two," Gently echoed, snorting. "But you're not interested in Sanji at all."

Luffy grinned. "Nope. There's a coin here for Allie, and a coin for your flag."

It hung limply from the top of the middle mast, the mask-and-dagger motif hidden in the folds.

Gently raised an eyebrow sceptically, but didn't comment. "I have conditions."

"Sure, anything you want. We'll kick your ass anyway."

The Straw Hat crew exchanged alarmed glances behind their Captain's back. _Anything?_

Gently shook his head. "Not you. I would be a fool to pick a fight with a 400-million berry bounty. Condition number one is that you stay out of the game."

"What!" At first, Luffy looked ready to protest, but then he turned thoughtful. "Oh yeah, that's right, you don't have a bounty." He put his hands on his hips with a laugh. "Cheer up, no-bounty man! You'll get one eventually!"

Gently smiled with teeth, eyes a little wild. "I don't want-! ... Do you agree to the condition?"

Luffy smacked his lips together like he was tasting the sacrifice. He looked over his shoulder. "Are you guys alright with that?"

The Straw Hats nodded, some more reluctantly than others. Luffy looked disappointed. "So you don't need me, huh? Oh well, you're my crew, so you're strong. But!" He turned to Gently. "You don't get to play either!"

Gently inclined his head. "Captains stay out of it. Very well."

"That's what he wanted you to say," Usopp hissed at Luffy.

"The second condition," Gently continued. "Is that I decide the games we'll play."

Luffy looked about to start nodding until Nami leapt forward and knocked him on the head again. "One each!" she said a little desperately. "We'll decide one each!"

"One each," Luffy repeated faintly, holding his aching head.

Gently deliberated, looking them over. "And what would you choose, Nami-san? What game would you play?"

Zoro could feel the tides rising and shifting below him. He had a sense of inevitability. Not that he articulated this to himself in any way. He only knew he needed to take part in this, and that there was one thing he did better than anything else. "Combat." The eyes of the shadow-crowd shifted to him, like a hive, moved by single intent. He squared his shoulders to carry the weight of their hostility. "While the captains will not be playing, the tradition of a champion's combat round should still be observed." A crew without a single bounty couldn't possibly be carrying a fighter stronger than him.

Gently tilted his head slowly to the side. The look in his eyes was undeniably interested. "I suppose you would be Luffy's champion, Roronoa Zoro. His second in command."

Zoro didn't reply, so Gently turned to Nami and Luffy instead. "A combat round?"

They looked at each other briefly before nodding. "Zoro is my champion," Luffy confirmed.

"Good," Gently said, grin growing disturbing. "Our round will be a game of marksmanship. Furia will play for us, along with three others."

"Usopp?" Luffy turned to look at him.

Usopp swallowed nervously, but nodded. "I'll beat her." He didn't sound all that sure of himself, but he never did until it mattered.

"Very good." Gently held out a hand, and Furia gave him a gun.

A chill seemed to be rising in the air around them, but it could be the coming of dawn and the promise of rain in the air.

Two coins flew over the railing, glinting in the lamplight before they disappeared. Moments later, twin pistol shots rang out across the harbour.

   
 ~~~~~~

 

"You've been apprised of the rules! The targets will not carry weapons or do any sort of violence to each other, the hunters will only use the cleared ammunition."

"Here." Usopp held out the pouch to Furia.

She pulled the string and opened it, revealing ten red berries. She grunted her thanks while her eyes darted across them.

"There's ten," Usopp said, a little irritated. "I don't cheat." He held out his own pouch. "Count mine too if you need to."

"Hm." She didn't look up, but finished her count and closed the pouch with a quick gesture. "I will use three," she said.

She was so cold! And so cool! Usopp fumbled for a snappy retort. "Well ... I'll use ... probably more than that, but ... I'm still gonna win!"

She smiled, which he had never seen her do before and so was kind of scary.

The referee was a merchant that had arrived on the island yesterday, and had been the only impartial judge they could find; the two crews were obviously out, and the townsfolk, some of whom had been woken by the gunshots, and the rest of whom had been woken by the ones woken by the gunshots, were overwhelmingly on the Straw Hat's side, as no one liked the Gently Pirates and everyone wanted Allie to come back safe.

The merchant cleared his throat. "Find your positions everyone. And sir, please put away that-"

"It's my violin and I will not! It's not a weapon."

"Why do you need a violin?"

"Playing it soothes me." Brook was bristling. "I am going to be hunted like an animal through a big, scary graveyard. You will not take my violin from me!"

The referee, understandably reluctant to argue with the talking skeleton, gave up and turned to Nami instead. "Young lady, those tubes at your belt ..."

"Oh, these? That's just my magic sticks."

"Magic ... sticks?"

Nami proceeded to give the referee a one-minute magic show that included sprinkling water, conjured balloons, and a very confused bunny.

Furia and Baba clapped politely.

 _Where'd the bunny come from?_ Usopp couldn't remember having put any bunnies in the original Clima-Tact.

"That ... that's alright, I suppose," the referee said weakly, watching as the bunny hopped away towards a promising patch of grass.

Usopp and Furia positioned themselves back to back in the middle of the field. Above them, the graveyard tower rose into the clouded sky. Around them was the maze of old walls. They had left the rest of the Straw Hats and Gently Pirates on the ridge at the mouth of the valley, along with the sleepy townsfolk. They wouldn't be able to see anything from there, but they'd be waiting for the victors to emerge. What worried Usopp more was that the referee wouldn't be able to see anything either; the players would be on their own.

"Get ready!"

At the first pistol shot, the six targets scattered into the maze surrounding the tower. Nami looked back once and winked at Usopp before striding confidently around a corner, while of Chopper, Usopp caught only a glimpse of a hoof. Brook took the time to adjust the violin under his bony chin and strike the first note, before wandering into the thickening mist, already playing and singing.

Usopp breathed in deeply and exhaled slowly. They’d get some distance between themselves and Furia, and find good places to hide. Then it was just a matter of Usopp getting his job done quickly. No problem. It wasn't like, if he failed, he would lose even more of his friends.

“I can feel you trembling. Nervous?”

Furia's long, ornamented rifle brushed against him when she moved.

The referee was looking at his watch, waiting for the two-minute head-start to be up.

“It’s excitement,” Usopp lied.

She snorted. “You fear for your friends. Did you think I would mock you for that?” He glanced back and saw her bow her head. “Nothing is more important than the people we care about.”

Usopp’s brow furrowed. What an unexpected turn of the conversation. Zoro had told him how Furia had helped him save Chopper from Dr Bradshaw, but the emotional confession was still uncharacteristic of the stoic woman.

"They're just seeds, you know," Usopp reassured her. "They're harmless. I'm not going to hurt your sister."

“We’re old, Usopp,” she said, tone flat. “Brittle. I expect to get her back alive, but I’m not expecting her to be unharmed.” She sighed. “Baba throws herself head first at any situation. Always did. Makes it difficult to be a big sister.”

Usopp grinned. “My Captain is like that too, and his big brother was always worried about him.” The grin faltered. “Though in the end, it was Luffy who had to save Ace, and …”

A moment of silence.

"That war was nothing but a tragedy," Furia said quietly.

“Thirty seconds,” the referee said.

"You persuaded Gently to accept our challenge," Usopp said. "Why?"

"I was bored," she said.

"Yeah, right."

She gave him a look, the shadow of another smile at the edge of her mouth. "Fine. It's like I said; nothing is more important than your loved ones. And that's all I will say."

"Ten seconds."

“I’m going to climb the tower,” Furia said, surprising Usopp again.

“What?”

“My strategy. I’m going to climb to the top of the tower and scout your crew from there.”

Usopp looked up. He had to lean his head way back to even see the top of the massive stone building. The belfry was open to the north, south, east and west; you could probably see the entire valley from there.

He gnawed nervously on his lower lip. “Aw, I wish I had thought of that.”

The referee raised his gun. “You have your flare guns and three flares, one for each target. Only fire them to signal your progress. You know the rules.”

They nodded.

“Begin.” The gunshot made Usopp’s heart skip a beat. Furia was already running for the tower’s entrance.

“Wait!”

She stopped and turned, cautious.

Usopp was itching to run, but he wanted to know: “Why did you tell me your strategy?”

"You're full of questions, aren't you." She glanced away, seeming annoyed at herself. “... Maybe I disapprove of what my Captain is doing.” She glared at him. “But don't expect me to go easy on your team.”

Usopp nodded once, firmly. “Thank you. Good luck.”

She snorted again, dismissing his gratitude, and ran for the door. Usopp spent a second considering his options, before heading in the other direction, towards where Baba, Dr Bradshaw and the giant cat would have gone.

Their team selection bothered him. The Straw Hats had chosen their players based on who was faster, most nimble, and had useful skills for the trial. Furia would be tracking and hunting little Chopper with his sharp senses, swift Brook and clever Nami. Usopp, on the other hand, was on the trail of one crazy old lady, a fat man, and a giant cat. It seemed like an easy win, and that bothered him.

This place really was a maze. Shafts of sunlight breaking through the clouds illuminated the crumbling, ivy-covered stone walls. A sheen of dew still covered everything, and the mists swirled around Usopp’s knees. He jogged along at a crouch, holding his Kuro Kabuto at the ready with the first seed already in the cup. Upon breaking, it would stain the target with a splash of red colour, and, admittedly, probably bruise them quite badly. The Straw Hats had of course argued for a different kind of contest, one with wooden targets, but Gently had refused to budge, and since they had challenged him, they couldn't really complain about the danger.

The further he went into the maze, the more tightly Usopp's nerves were strung. Everything was quiet; the voices of the spectators did not reach this far, and there were no birds singing, no wind blowing. Several times, he ended up walking in circles or doubling back on himself, or at least he thought he had. He didn’t seem to be getting much farther away from the ominous tower anyway.

It was hard to read the ground for tracks when the mists covered everything so thickly. Luckily, it was not as bad here as on the other side of the valley, where the white clouds were quickly rising above the walls. Furia would have a hard time spotting anything over there, and would probably come down from the tower no wiser. He looked to the belfry, but couldn’t see her.

Around a corner, Usopp came unexpectedly into what looked like it had been a garden or small courtyard, with stone benches and remnants of fountains and statues. The ground was paved with flagstones, though they were mostly hidden by the tall grass that had grown up in the cracks. And there, near the exit on the opposite side, the giant cat was crouched. Usopp had taken aim and fired before his mind had caught up, but the cat leapt away and the seed splattered across the stones. With a furious hiss, the cat streaked back into the maze, Usopp hot on its trail.

He ran in the bizarre silence, with only his own soft footsteps, pounding heart and fast breaths accompanying him. The cat made no sound at all, but Usopp would catch glimpses of it; sometimes he was close behind, sometimes he would see its tail as it turned a corner, or a glaring yellow eye flashing back at him. He fired, missed again, another wall splashed with red, dripping down like blood, quickly forgotten as he hurried past, already fishing another bullet out of the pouch in his belt. Two bullets gone, eight left, three targets.

Usopp ran, turning left, right, another right, down a broad corridor, leaping over a low wall, weaving past a row of pedestals, some with massive, ancient vases still standing, others empty. He wasn’t gaining! Around another corner and-

The courtyard opened up before him suddenly, empty, except for the mists that were seeping in through cracks and rising out of the ground. He looked around. To the left was the wall he had hit the first time he saw the cat. That meant he had originally come from the right. If it hadn’t been for the dully gleaming red mark, he wouldn’t have been able to tell. He searched the grass, looked for straws flattened by feline feet, and found a trail of them leading straight to the wall on the left. With another bullet at the ready, he snuck closer. Had the cat leapt the wall? If so, he could be far away already, true, but a peculiar instinct made Usopp think otherwise. It was almost like he could feel a presence on the other side of that wall. Treading softly, he got close to the wall and pressed his ear against it, listening for the sounds of heavy breathing while struggling to silence his own, useless as it probably was against the cat’s superior hearing. Hopefully, the colossal kitten was as tired as Usopp.

He would sneak to the opening, leap around it and attack-

With a roar, a huge man burst through the stone wall, throwing Usopp backwards in a shower of debris. Ears ringing from the impact, Usopp barely had time to open his eyes before he had to roll away as the man brought both fists down upon him.

“What the hell?” He scrambled up, fumbling for a new seed as his previous one lay crushed under the rocks.

The man had to be at least half giant, but where had he come from? Usopp threw himself around to fire but a huge fist sent him flying into the wall again, knocking him half senseless. Panting, vision swimming, he struggled to raise Kuro Kabuto as the man came pounding towards him with sharp teeth bared. He had a great big mane of black hair, and his eyes were … yellow.

Usopp scrambled up and out of the way as the man smashed into the wall Usopp had propped himself again.

“You’re the cat!” he yelled, stumbling and staggering away as best as his jelly limbs allowed him, heart racing in his throat. “You’re a devil fruit user!”

The man didn’t even answer; he roared again and ran after Usopp, but this time Usopp was ready. _Make it count._ He planted his feet, aimed and fired. The seed hit the man in the face and blinded him with a splash of red. He swiped after Usopp, but missed.

“Hey! I hit you!” He ducked under another blow. “You’re out of the game! Stop it!”

Mindless with fury, the half-giant continued to throw his massive mitts around, tottering after Usopp and yelling hoarsely.

Usopp stumbled, fell backwards and threw his hands up uselessly to ward off the blow that would surely kill him. Instead, Nami's Clima-Tact came down on the giant's head with a thwack, sending him crashing to the ground, unconscious.

"Nami!" Usopp let himself collapse back in the grass, giving himself a moment to catch his breath and calm his racing heart. “That was scary. I thought I was dead!”

Nami leaned on her staff. She was breathing hard too. "Good thing I lost my way and found you."

Usopp looked over at their big opponent, whose breath was whistling loudly in and out of his nose. "Did we just cheat?"

"I think he cheated first," Nami said. "He attacked you. What did you say to him?"

"What? I didn't say anything! One moment he was a cat, and then he went berserk! I hadn't even hit him!" He rubbed his chin. "It's strange. If he had just run, I would have lost him."

A gun was cocked behind them.

“You _have_ lost.”

Usopp and Nami turned to look straight into the mouth of a blunderbuss.

“Dr Bradshaw?” Usopp stood up slowly. “Um … shouldn’t I be shooting at you?” He gestured helpfully with his slingshot.

The man’s pale, pudgy face was covered in sweat, but the gun was completely steady in his hand, and he was smiling, if somewhat tremulously. “Now, now, my lady, young man, no sudden movements. Remain where you are.”

"Where did you get that from?" Nami asked. "You're breaking the rules."

Usopp glanced back at the unconscious giant, and had a moment of clarity. “You set this up. The cat led us here so you could sneak up on us.”

Bradshaw bowed elaborately. “Dorian’s a bit of a beast, but he can take orders. He did an admirable job distracting you.” He smiled sympathetically at them, but it only served to make him look cruel.

"You can't shoot us!" Nami yelled. "What good will that do you? You'll be disqualified!"

Bradshaw’s grin turned maniacal, his eyes widening until he looked mad and ... doubtful? “Captain's orders. So they say. Captain's orders." He looked away, head swaying on his shoulders. He almost seemed to have forgotten them for a moment, but he didn't lower the gun. "They say," he mumbled. "He didn't say, but he said to obey the navigators, and they say Captain's orders.”

Usopp and Nami exchanged glances. Usopp could feel sweat running down his back, and his knees were barely holding him up. There was something seriously weird going on here. "Dr Bradshaw, _why are you doing this_?"

"Captain's orders!" Bradshaw laughed like a crow cawing, aimed the gun at Usopp’s stomach and fired.

And Usopp and Nami dissolved into the mist.

“Paint star!”

The bullet hit Bradshaw in the face and splashed red paint over the mask, his chin, and down onto his blue silk coat. “What? HOW?” he staggered around, spitting and wiping at his eyes through the eyeholes.

“Two down, one to go.” Usopp said, high fiving Nami behind the statue where they were hiding.

“Did you think we didn’t have a strategy of our own?” Nami yelled, trying to sound brave even though they both would rather be running for the hills.

Bradshaw raised the blunderbuss again, but he was blinded and could only wave the gun uselessly. “I can still shoot you!” he shouted desperately. "They said to! They said to! Captain! Captain, what are your orders?" His fingers scrabbled at the edges of his mask as if it pained him.

Something was terribly wrong. Usopp's heart clenched as he thought about Brook and Chopper running blindly around this empty maze. Empty except for a gang of madmen apparently set on killing them. Had Bradshaw acted alone, or was this part of some evil plan of Gently's? Furia and Baba were Gently's navigators, so were they behind this?

Usopp and Nami looked at each other with the same urgency in their eyes.

Usopp nodded to the Clima-Tact. "Time for the good doctor to take a nap maybe?"

Nami nodded.

They took a deep breath, waited until Bradshaw had his back turned, and then burst out from behind the statue. Another well-placed thwack, and Bradshaw followed his team mate into slumber land. The gun fell from his hand, and Usopp kicked it away.

A bit of a wind picked up and hurried the mists along the ground. Above, the sky was growing darker at an alarming rate. Usopp shivered.

Nami shielded her eyes and studied the sky. "There's a storm coming. A bad one."

She pushed the Clima-Tact into Usopp's hand and knelt down next to Bradshaw, turning him over on his back with an effort. His mask was ruined by paint, already drying. It looked pretty grotesque, the red was so dark. "He acted like the mask pained him," she said, curious fingers tracing the edges of it, looking for the ribbon.

"Oi, oi, Nami, what if he wakes up?"

"I'll just hit him again." She found the ribbon, followed it to the knot, and began to tug at it. "Why do some of them wear masks and others not?" she asked.

"I don't know." Come to think of it, Usopp had never seen any of the Gently Pirates take off their masks, or carry one in their hand or around their neck.

Nami grunted her frustration as the knot seemed to be resisting her efforts. "It's so tight," she said through clenched teeth. "How does he get this off at night?” She stopped for a moment to blow on her aching fingers, before attacking the knot again.

Usopp kept an eye on the half-giant, in case he got any ideas about waking.

Finally, Nami uttered a triumphant little "ha!", and the mask came off. Now Bradshaw looked even weirder, with red spots over his eyes, but white skin where the mask had shielded his face.

Nami turned the mask over in her hands, but there was nothing to discover; it was just a mask.

"Look." Usopp knelt next to her. "It's been digging into his face." There were alarming sores where the edges of the mask had chafed against Bradshaw's skin, and his face was noticeably paler where the mask had been covering it up.

"Talk about being committed to their image," Nami said, frowning.

Then, with a groan, Bradshaw woke, his eyes blinking open, startlingly clear. The two Straw Hats sprang up.

“Where am I?”

"Hit him again!" Usopp yelled, forgetting he was the one holding the Clima-Tact.

Bradshaw looked around, and his eyes alighted on the mask in Nami's hands. He gasped like he had been struck, and sat up abruptly, touching his face. He felt around as if he could somehow discover the mask still there if he just searched. He looked at the mask, and at Usopp and Nami, and then, to the Straw Hats' bewilderment, he began to cry suddenly and convulsively, eyes welling over with tears. He hugged himself as his body was wracked by uncontrollable sobs.

“Um, are you alright?” Usopp asked the man who had tried to shoot him only a minute before.

“You must … you must …” The doctor struggled to speak between shuddering breaths. “Oh, oh, oh.”

From high up there came a muted bang, and Dr Bradshaw fell back with a cry, clutching his stomach. Blood welled up between his hands.

Usopp and Nami, completely shocked, looked around for the shooter, but there was no one there, and the sound had come from far away. Usopp looked up at the tower belfry, putting his goggles on to see better. Even in the rapidly darkening day, he could tell that there was someone in the window.

“She can’t-!” He was shaking. Furia was using real bullets. "She's firing from the tower!"

“Hurry!” Bradshaw said suddenly, his voice pinched with pain. “Run! Hide! Before she fires again! She’ll do my job for me.”

But Nami and Usopp hesitated. Usopp's heart was galloping away in his chest; they only had seconds to act before Furia was ready for the second shot.

"Come on!" Nami started forward towards Bradshaw, grabbing him under the arms.

"No, no, leave me!"

“You’ll bleed out,” Usopp said, grabbing him under the knees. Together, he and Nami lifted the man towards the safety of the statue they had hid behind before.

“Hide, I say!” Bradshaw shouted, his face sickly white and shining with sweat. “She only needs one shot!”

“She already took a shot and missed," Usopp said. "She’ll come help you, right? She can signal the crowd from up there and get them to come find you.”

Bradshaw looked from him to Nami, confused. He was breathing shallowly and rapidly. “She didn’t miss. She saw the mask come off.” He threw his head back with a groan of pain, hands shaking wildly where they framed the bullet wound obscured by pumping blood.

“Why would she shoot _you_?” Nami asked, and then there was another bang and searing pain shot through Usopp's left calf. He collapsed to the side with a yell of pain.

“No! No!” Bradshaw gnashed his teeth. “Hurry! Get behind the statue!”

With a sudden burst of strength, Nami dragged the injured man to shelter, while Usopp crawled after them. They collapsed there, two trembling, pain-ridden bodies, and Nami, who was shaking with fear.

“Are you alright, doctor?” Usopp asked, to distract himself from the burning agony in his leg.

“Apart from slowly bleeding to death, you mean?” came the choked answer. “Would you believe me if I said I feel better than I have in a long time?” He glanced at Usopp’s leg, where blood was beginning to soak through the yellow trousers. “You need to dig the bullet out and bind it tightly. Do you have any stimulants on you? You’ll need to run if you're going to save your friends.”

Nami was staring into the distance with wide, uncomprehending eyes. “Why is she using real bullets? She'll be disqualified! Why is she shooting at us?”

Bradshaw closed his eyes. He was beginning to fade. “You have to go find your friends, finish the game, get them out of here before…”

“No, no, no, hey, doc, don’t fall asleep!” Usopp slapped the man’s wet cheek to rouse him. “I’ll fire all my flares, end the game and get Chopper here; he can help you!”

“No!” Bradshaw grabbed his hand, but his grip was weak. “That’s what she’s hoping for. To get the little one out into the open. If you end the game ... they'll be desperate. You have to find ... Furia. Stop _her_."

"But ..." Usopp looked to Nami for help, but she could only shake her head, as confused as he. "Maybe it's someone else!" He tried to laugh, but it came out weak and unconvincing. "Why would Furia do something like this? When I spoke to her, she-"

Bradshaw shook his head, eyes blinking sluggishly. “You mustn't ... trust her. Demona is a liar." He seemed to be drifting off. "Do you know, we had food poisoning among the crew once. She ... spread the rumour that I made it happen, that I was a poisoner.” His eyes grew blank and wet again. “They began to hide their illnesses and injuries from me, refusing my remedies, avoiding my company, because of her. I watched them suffer ...” He sank back, consciousness fading again. “I see her sitting up there in the darkness,” he said faintly. “Her eyes shining down, watching us run like mice, waiting, plotting … smiling at our fear.” He drew a sudden breath. “You have to … save your friends.” Then his eyes closed.

“Doc? Doctor Bradshaw?” Usopp was feeling faint himself.

"He's right," Nami said, pulling herself together. "Brook and Chopper are counting on us."

Usopp hiked himself up a little higher against the statue's base, sniffed, wiped at his eyes and steeled himself. "Yeah."

"Can you walk, do you think?" she asked, biting her lip worriedly.

"I'll have to." He rolled up his trouser leg. "Um ..." How on earth was he supposed to do this?

Then Nami's quick hands were there to help him. "Come on brave warrior of the sea; your nakama need you.”

He nodded quickly.

She grabbed his hat from his head and stuffed it into his mouth. "Bite down. This will hurt." She pushed him to lie down and turn over on his side so she had full access to the wound. "I'll need something to bind it with..."

Why would Furia lie to him? Why would she talk about family, show that side of herself to him, if all along she had been planning to ... _To make me trust her_ , he thought angrily to himself. _To make me feel safe. To make me think she liked us._

They had to get to Baba and Furia and end this. Get Allie and Sanji back and end this.

Nami had ripped a strip of cloth from her skirt. "I can't believe that worked. I'm gonna complain to the manufacturer. Flimsy material." She laid it aside. "Are you ready?"

"No," he mumbled around the hat. "Do it anyway." He bit down on again and closed his eyes.

Nami exhaled sharply, and then she dug her fingers into the wound.

Usopp screamed.

 

~~~~~~  
  

The smell of blood was growing unbearable. Chopper curled up tighter and put both hooves over his nose, but he was breathing it in with every inhale. The moist, hot air in the tunnel made it feel like a film of blood was stuck to the roof of his mouth. He had to fight not to gag. And she wouldn’t stop moaning.

In Chopper’s mind, duty warred with caution. As per Usopp’s instructions, he had used horn point to quickly dig himself into the soft earth and hide. Minute after painful minute had ticked by while he lay under the earth, trying to keep his mind off the many corpses buried all around him. Several times in the last few minutes, he had heard distant gunshots, meaning Furia had found targets. He had counted four, and clung to the hope that she would waste her ten seeds without hitting anyone. Unless she had already hit someone. But there had been no whistling flares, no smell of smoke. So far so good.

Then Baba had showed up. He had smelled her first, a whiff of blood that had made him feel icy cold. Then he had heard her dragging footsteps, and her heavy breathing. She had collapsed against a wall close to where he lay, breath growing fainter. Now and then she would moan in pain, and he wanted so much to go help her, but what if … what if it was a trap? Was it really a coincidence that she had come to a stop just outside his hiding place, or did she know he was there?

But she was injured! Beneath the blood and sweat, she smelled like an old lady, that sweet, soft scent of home. A bit like Kureha.

Who could have hurt her?

Chopper shut his eyes tight. What would Luffy do in a situation like this? He would do whatever it took to save his friends, but … he would have done it head on, not hiding in a hole. Chopper was grown up now; he could take care of himself, and he was a doctor. He knew his duty.

Baba certainly made a show of being surprised when he popped up out of his hole.

“Were you a ground squirrel all along?” She grinned weakly. “Thought you were a raccoon dog.”

Chopper climbed cautiously out of the hole. “What’s happened to you?”

She was lying back against the nearest wall. Her face was deathly pale, her hair was a bigger tangle than ever, and there were patches of sweat on her white undershirt. She had one hand tucked inside her creased uniform jacket, where the smell of blood was strongest.

“Ambush,” she said, drawing laboured breaths to speak. “Someone’s in the maze with us. Playing a different game.” She winced, and sank back into a deeper slump, eyes growing heavy.

“Who?” Chopper inched closer.

“Didn’t see who, ground squirrel. You need to warn your friends.”

“I’m a doctor. I can help you, but I don’t have my supplies. We need to end the game, get you out of here.”

She looked him over, even managed to raise an eyebrow. “How are you gonna do that, ground squirrel? No, go find your friends. They’re in danger.”

Chopper firmed his jaw. “I can do it!” He changed into heavy point. “See? I can carry you.”

Her eyes widened. “Bear squirrel?”

“Come on.” He knelt by her and worked one arm in behind her shoulders and the other under her knees. “Hold on now, I’ll get you out of here.” He stood up.

And felt the mouth of a blunderbuss press against the underside of his chin.

“Where did you get that from?” was all he could think of to ask at first.

“You don’t want to know, Sonny,” she said, voice a lot less unsteady all of a sudden.

“You’re injured.”

“Incredible what stabbing yourself will do for your acting skills,” she said, grinning with a tinge of madness.

Chopper was beginning to tremble. “Why are you doing this?”

“Think my sob-story will buy you time, ground squirrel?” Her eyes narrowed. “It’s justice for the dead. That’s all you need to know where you’re going.”

“Where am I going?”

She cackled suddenly, an edge of desperation to it. “Back into the ground.”

Chopper acted on instinct. He changed back into his hybrid form as the world shattered into noise, felt the bullet graze the side of his nose, fell to the ground next to Baba, got up and leapt behind a stump of a wall, from where he meant to run on, but he stopped dead when he heard her groaning in true pain. She had landed on her wounded shoulder.

Shaking with fear, Chopper turned back, peeking over the wall.

Teeth set, and pupils only pin-pricks of agony, she raised the blunderbuss against him again. “Fool! Think I’ll miss again?”

He ducked down a little. “I won’t run away! Luffy wouldn’t run away. I want to know … What you meant about justice for the dead? What have I ever done to you?”

She looked at him in astonishment. “You emulate your captain? Your captain is a menace. You should run for your life.”

Chopper stood his ground, even though his legs were ready to fold under him. “I won’t run! You took Sanji from us! You kidnapped Allie! I won’t let you hurt any more of my family!”

Slowly, laboriously, she rose to her feet, her height negating the protection of his little wall. She kept the gun trained on him. Chopper regretted not having run while he still could. “This has nothing to do with Gently and his petty desires. There will be no second round, no more games. Straw Hat Luffy will know the pain of losing his loved ones. The same pain he taught us.”

“Luffy would never do something like that!” Chopper yelled, anger giving him courage. “He doesn’t even know you!”

“But he will,” she said, colour high in her cheeks. “And he will remember us.”

Chopper smelled dust and madness on the air a second before he was yanked sideways and Baba's gun went off again, and then he was being carried away at high speed by a very angry skeleton man.

“Tony Tony Chopper, what were you thinking?” Brook scolded him, his long legs a blur under them. “When your enemy is giving you a chance to run, you take it! You don’t stand around waiting for their life story!”

“A chance to run?” Come to think of it, she had given him an awful lot of warnings.

“Is she pursuing, do you think?” Brook asked.

Chopper smelled the air, but all he got was wet earth and waiting rain and Brook. “I don’t think so. She’s hurt, so she won’t be fast. We have to find the others, though. Something is going on.”

“I know. I’ve been shot at already.”

“By Baba?”

“By Furia. She’s up in the tower.”

They stopped, and Brook put Chopper down, but pressed him to crouch in the shadow of a tall wall, so they were hidden from the tower.

“She can fire from there?” Chopper asked. “But it’s so far away!”

“She’s a better shot than we anticipated,” Brook said, folding his lanky body to sit next to Chopper. “Look.” He pulled open his shirt to show Chopper where there was a deep crack in a rib bone. “She shot me right in the heart. Except I don’t have a heart. Yohohoo!”

Chopper pulled his knees up and put his arms around them. Only now, he realised how much his face burned where the bullet had grazed him. He touched it gingerly, flinching when it stung. “Baba said they want to make Luffy feel the pain of losing his loved ones, because he has hurt them in the past, but Luffy wouldn’t do something like that. I don’t believe it.”

“Hmm. Neither do I.” Brook tapped his bony chin with a sharp fingertip. “I think … you should go warn Luffy about what’s happening and make them call off the game.”

Chopper stood up. “I’m not leaving you here! And Usopp and Nami, they’re in danger too!”

“I’ll find them,” Brook said. “But we need to put an end to the game. I believe our vengeful ladies have quite thoroughly disqualified themselves by now, so we’ve already won, but the most important thing is to see everyone safely out of here.”

Chopper hesitated. “You’re sending me away like a kid.”

Brook shook his head and put a hand on Chopper’s shoulder. “I am sending you to do the job only you can do. Your nose will lead you out of this labyrinth faster than my feet ever could. Usopp, Nami and I are putting our lives in your hands.”

“Even though I don’t have hands,” Chopper joked weakly, waving his hooves.

“Stay out of sight of the tower,” Brook said. “I’m going to draw her attention.”

“Be careful.”

Brook gave him that soft look that was as close as he could get to a regular smile. “You too. Now go. Hurry!”

Chopper ran, keeping close to the walls and stopping at crossroads to smell the air. He looked for, and finally picked up the scent of a crowd; perfumes and sweat, leather and cotton and smoke in a familiar mixture. He followed it. Soon he could hear Brook playing his violin, music bouncing off the walls until it was coming from every direction, a confusing cacophony of sound. It wouldn’t confuse Furia’s eyes, but it would distract Baba, at least.

As he got farther from the tower, the walls got lower and fewer, and the graveyard proper began. As he snuck between the moss-covered memorial stones, rain began to fall, pattering down and making the mists swirl up and hiss like angered cats. He hoped it would conceal him further, but he was confident anyway that he was far enough away from the tower for it to be impossible for Furia to reach him from there.

And then she suddenly landed right in front of him.

He looked up at the sky, and then down the barrel of her ornamented rifle and into her hard, cold face, unable to speak. Only her eyes were alive with emotion, and Chopper could have sworn it was grief.

“This is for Oishin,” she said, and it felt like the rain stood still for a moment, Chopper shut his eyes expecting the explosion, and then Furia gasped and Chopper looked and there was someone standing between them.

She wore the big white overcoat of the marines, and her hair was red, and she was beautiful. She looked at Chopper and her eyes too were sad, and Chopper heard someone call his name even as a warm, female voice in his head said _“Save my child”_.

A fizzing red ball of light shot past Chopper, hit Furia in the chest and burst into stars. Chopper blinked and the marine lady was gone, there was just Nami scooping him up into a big hug, Brook crying, and Usopp clutching his flare gun with shaking hands. And there was Furia, unconscious on the ground, scorched and bleeding and pale as a corpse.

“Chopper!” Nami cried, holding him tightly to her. “Chopper what happened? You were just standing there! We thought- … We thought …”

Brook pulled on Chopper’s ear. “Didn’t I tell you to run, stupid reindeer! If I had a heart, you would have given me a heart attack!”

Chopper untangled himself from Nami’s arms. He shifted to heavy point and helped Usopp hold the gun steady and fire the two remaining flares into the air. Nami crouched by Furia, pulled her flare gun from her belt and fired her three green flares as well.

Usopp’s whole body was shaking uncontrollably. “Is she … is she …?” His teeth were chattering so badly he could barely speak.

Chopper hugged him. “She’s alive. And so am I. You saved me, Usopp.”

“I couldn’t think of anything … else to do.”

“We saw her running across the sky, using geppo, like Sanji,” Nami said. “Luckily, we were close behind.”

“I c-c-could have killed her.”

They were still calming Usopp down when the rescue party found them. Luffy, Robin, Franky, and Mara who was pulling along a resisting, sullen Allie. Gently and Lethe came, and lot of townsfolk too, among them several healers with medical supplies.

Luffy was furious. They expected him to deck Gently right then and there, but the man insisted adamantly that he had had no idea what Baba and Furia were planning.

“This means I lose, Straw Hat. LOSE! I wanted to win!”

Chopper noted that Zoro hadn’t come.

Usopp was put on a stretcher. Brook was given some milk for his rib bone.

Nami took a handful of people back into the maze to find Dorian, Bradshaw and Baba. Baba came back on her own two feet, but turned hysterical at the sight of her sister on another stretcher.

“Furia? Furia!”

They had to haul her off when she tried to shake the old woman awake.

Gently, for some reason, did not seem to be interested in speaking with Baba at all, turning away from her with a look of bitter rage. Losing seemed to have upset him more than the betrayal.

Chopper, on the other hand, wanted to speak to her very badly. She was given a sedative by a doctor, and as they were bandaging up her shoulder, Chopper went and sat next to her.

“Baba-san?”

She glanced at him, eyes sluggish and red-rimmed. “Ground squirrel.”

“I’m a reindeer, actually.”

She smiled. “So you are. Are you sure they’ve found all my hidden weapons? I might take another shot at you.”

Chopper twiddled his hooves. “I don’t think you will. You gave me so many chances to escape, I don’t think you really wanted to kill me. … I want to ask you who Oishin is.”

She flinched. “You mean who Oishin was.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

She shook her head slowly.

Luffy came over. He looked down at Baba, but Chopper was glad to see that despite what Furia and Baba had tried to do to his nakama, Luffy was calm. “Chopper tells me I’ve hurt you.”

She looked at him. “Monkey D. Luffy.”

“What did I do?” Luffy asked.

“You. Whitebeard. Sengoku. The Admirals. Garp. The Warlords. The list is long.”

“This is about the war,” Luffy guessed.

The fight seemed to have gone out of Baba. Limply, she let her body sway with the movements of the young woman fastening her bandages. “They fought a war over the life of a single man. Your brother. They thought his life worth hundreds, thousands of other men and women’s lives.”

“Oishin fought in the war?” Chopper asked.

“We were so proud when we learned he had joined the navy. He was Furia’s. Well, he was Alina’s, but Alina was Furia’s, her only daughter.”

“I didn’t know him,” Luffy said. “I didn’t kill him.”

“Your very presence killed him,” she spat. “If you hadn’t showed up with your band of jail-breakers, the marines would have won easily! Hundreds of lives could have been spared! Our boy, the only good thing we ever did. He could have lived.”

“You don’t know that,” Luffy said, soft but unforgiving. “And it didn’t give you the right to hurt my friends.”

Baba smiled, a brief tug of the side of her mouth. “If your reindeer hadn’t been so brave today, you would have lost him, Monkey D. Luffy.”

“I know.”

“Be grateful he is still with you.”

“I am.”

The sky opened up then, and rain poured down like it was the end of the world.

“Where is Zoro?” Chopper asked later as the Straw Hats ascended the hill, leaving the valley behind for the harbour below.

“He’s meditating," Franky answered. "Getting ready for his fight.” He had insisted on giving Chopper a ride on his shoulder, even though it was only Chopper’s nose that was hurt, and he had put a bandage on it.

“Gently announced his champion,” Robin explain. Her expression was serious.

“Who is it?” Chopper wondered.

Robin and Franky exchanged glances.

“It’s Sanji,” Robin said.


	6. Chapter 6

 

Zoro sat on the edge of the fountain, letting rushing water and pouring rain drown out the sounds of the few stragglers still milling about in the square. They were closing up stalls and heading for home under their umbrellas, shaking their heads at the weather. Zoro didn't mind the rain. What was the point of brooding over what you could not change? When he closed his eyes, there was only the noise of it, the sounds of the living world.

He had always preferred solid ground beneath his feet. In the earth he could feel the world's steadily pounding heart, while the sea was made up of shifting, fleeting dreams. Cook belonged to the sea, Zoro had decided. He was as passionate; still and contemplative one moment, raging and swift the next.

Had Zoro guessed from the beginning that he would be fighting Cook? Maybe. It's what they did best. Perhaps it was destiny, opposites attracting or something. Or maybe Gently was just predictable; the guy seemed to have a need for the dramatic. Either way, Zoro wanted this too. He wasn't certain if Luffy really intended to take the flag and not Cook when they won (when, not if), but either way, winning him back would not be the same as having him back. He had left for a reason, and dragging him back by the ear would not reveal it, or solve the conflict (though it would have been satisfying anyway). He permitted himself a grin at the mental image.

So Zoro would have to figure it out somehow, and a good fight should help; in the stillness of battle, his instincts were stronger.

He let the pouring rain wash away thought and time, to sink into his skin like cold focus. Only his heart beat hot in the centre of him, waiting for its moment. He found peace, focus, calm-

"OOOOOOI, ZOROOOO! WE WOOOOON!"

"That's great, Luffy," Zoro mumbled, while peace, focus and calmness ran away yelping with their tails between their legs.

It was nice, however, to see his nakama return in procession. Luffy came first with a kicking, yelling Allie slung over his shoulder, the black tricorn hat crooked on the kid's head. Mara, visibly relieved, followed them, arguing with Allie all the way. Then Franky came with Chopper on his shoulder, Robin next to them, under an umbrella. And finally, Nami and Brook, tired but triumphant, leading a crowd of townsfolk, who seemed cheerful despite the rain. The Gently Pirates followed at the very back, only Gently and Lethe remaining of the ones Zoro knew. They broke off from the group quickly and headed for the water and their ship.

"Hey, Zoro!" Luffy spun around, showing him Allie. "Look who we caught for our crew!"

Allie glared.

"Where's Usopp?" Zoro asked.

"He's alright," Nami assured him, dumping down next to him on the fountain with a tired sigh. "He got shot in the leg, but he'll recover." She tipped her head back to catch the rain in her mouth.

"WHAT?"

The Straw Hats gathered around and filled him in eagerly, Luffy hindering more than helping, seeing as he hadn't actually seen anything. Zoro was mostly disturbed to discover how completely Furia had fooled him. He, usually the last person to trust a stranger, had taken the truth of her words against Bradshaw for granted. He felt ashamed.

"If I had been more careful, we would have been forewarned."

"Ah, forget it." Nami clapped him on the back. "How could you know they had reason to be angry at Luffy?"

"Half the people we meet have reason to be angry at Luffy."

"Oi, Zoro, you owe me a cup of tea," Chopper piped up cheekily from the safety of Franky's shoulder. Apparently, Baba complimenting his courage had gone to his head.

"Don't make me come up there," Zoro warned him.

"I wish this rain would stop," Franky said, holding his big hand out and increasing the metallic chorus of "plink-plink-plink-plinkplinkplink-plink". "I'm going to rust like this."

Nami clicked her tongue sceptically against the roof of her mouth. "It's going to get worse before it gets better:"

Mara, meanwhile, was still arguing with Allie. "It's time to take it off! You can continue your teenage rebellion when we get home, but I won't have you wearing that outfit a moment longer."

"I'll wear it if I want to!"

"These people tried to murder our friends! Usopp is in the hospital because of them. How can you support them?"

"Just fuck off, you old hag!"

In shock, the Straw Hats turned as one. Mara stood speechless, staring at her nephew like he was a stranger.

Nami's eyes narrowed. "I have a theory. Robin, Luffy, help me hold him."

They pounced on Allie as one, Luffy wrapping himself around the kid and Robin creating hands to hold Allie's head still. Nami went to work on the knot to his mask, but the moment she touched it, Allie screamed in rage and began to trash around violently. Luckily, Luffy was a very persistent hugger.

"What are you doing?" Mara fluttered anxiously around them, uncertain if she should be beating them off her nephew, or helping them.

"There's something wrong with these masks," Nami said, grunting with the effort as she tugged at the tight knot. "Damn it, this one's worse than the last one. Zoro, help me."

Zoro drew Wado Ichimonji and set the edge gently to the ribbon, which Nami held tight for him.

"Don't you hurt him!" Mara cried.

"I won't touch him," Zoro said, and he didn't, but when he sheared through the ribbon, Allie nonetheless screamed like Zoro was running him through. The mask slipped from his face, Nami holding on to it by the end of the broken ribbon like it was a dead rat. Allie heaved for breath, eyes blinking rapidly as they regained focus.

"You can let go now, Luffy," Nami said, but when Luffy tried to untangle himself, Allie suddenly threw his arms around him and began to bawl into his shoulder.

"I'M SO SORRY-Y-Y-Y!"

Mara came closer. "Allie?"

Allie immediately threw himself around her neck instead. "A-a-aunty!"

Nami breathed a sigh of relief. "He's back."

Mara looked to the Straw Hats in confusion, while comforting the distraught Allie as best she could.

"Bradshaw had the same reaction when we took his mask off," Nami explained, holding the offending item up in front of her. "It's like he became a different man. I figured it might work on Allie too."

"Allie?" Robin touched Allie's shoulder and called his name softly. "Allie, can you tell us what happened?"

Mara patted the boy on the back. "There, there, I forgive you what you said, though you can bet your butt you are grounded again. We'll see about your chances for parole. First we have to help the Straw Hats get lover-boy back."

"Sa-a-anji-san! I'm sorry!" Allie cried, a fresh bout of sobs wracking him.

"Come on, now, pull yourself together."

Allie pulled back and wiped his eyes, between hiccups. "I've been so cruel to him, but I didn't mean to. It's the mask. Captain-I mean, Gently, he ..." He sniffed and wiped at his nose.

"Start at the beginning," Mara suggested. "What happened when you left the house last night?"

Allie nodded. "I was going down to see how Sanji-san and everyone were doing, but someone grabbed me. They put a bag over my head, tied me up and carried me to a boat. They rowed to the Moon Citadel. Captain Gently said he knew about my ... about me, and wanted me to join his crew."

Mara looked a little shame-faced. "I've told them, Allie. I'm afraid I've spilled most of what there was to spill."

Allie looked around, before turning to his aunt. "I think it's okay."

"I think it's awesome," Luffy said, nodding in satisfaction. "You are super cool, Allie!"

"You thi-I mean, thank you!" Allie laughed a little through his tears.

"But how did he know about your ability?" Mara wondered. "It's common knowledge around the island, sure, but people generally don't talk about it."

"It seems Captain Gently has very long ears," Robin said.

"I don't know how he knew," Allie said. "But I told him I'd never join him, so he took me to a room full of masks, and he got that one," pointing to the mask in Nami's hand, "and put a drop of his blood on it, and then he put it on me, and suddenly I could hear his voice in my head. He told me never to take off the mask, never let anyone else touch it or take it off, even if I had to kill them, or myself, to prevent it. He told me to address him as "Captain", and always work to protect the ship and the crew and him, especially him, and all his secrets." Fresh tears slipped from his eyes and mixed with the rain. "And I couldn't refuse."

"Explains the tight knots," Nami mumbled, letting the mask fall to the ground in distaste.

"It explains everything," Robin said, cupping her chin thoughtfully. "It must be a devil fruit power."

"All the people from San Faldo who walked away from their lives to become pirates," Franky reminded them. "They were taken against their will. Forced to leave their families without any explanation."

"But that means they've been trapped on Gently's ship for years!" Chopper cried. "How is that possible?"

"I don't think they ever take off the masks," Nami said, bristling with anger. "Gently doesn't care if it hurts them; Bradshaw had sores from wearing his mask for so long."

"Lethe," Robin said suddenly, putting a hand on Zoro's arm. She looked like she'd had a revelation. "Remember what she said?" She fished out the poetry book from inside her jacket and rifled through it with quick fingers. "Here it is. _Until my ghastly tale is told this heart within me burns._ " She looked at Zoro. "She was trying to tell us, to warn us. She's been fighting Gently's control."

Zoro nodded slowly. That would explain her strange behaviour.

The Straw Hats were growing steadily angrier as they puzzled together the full extent of Gently's crimes. Zoro breathed it in. The madman was going to pay for this.

"What about Cook," Zoro asked, turning to Allie. "Where is he?"

Allie bit his lip and looked down at his shoes. "Captain Gently made me ... take him to the room with the masks and ... ask him questions. He kept trying to talk to me, asking me what was wrong. Gently made me laugh at him. I even had to-" He glanced at Zoro. "... I think I hurt him."

Luffy looked towards the Moon Citadel, exhaling through his nose like a bull. "I'm going to kick Gently's ass."

"Not yet, Captain," Robin warned him. "There is still another round to play."

Luffy turned to Zoro. "Are you ready?"

Zoro nodded.

"No!" Allie grabbed Zoro's arm. "You mustn't fight him! I didn't tell you; Sanji has a mask on now, he'll be under Gently's control."

"I'll go for the mask first. Don't worry."

"But ... But they're cheating! How can you still want to fight?"

"We challenged them to a Davy Back fight. Backing out now would be dishonourable," Zoro explained patiently. "And Cook and me ... we've been needing this for a while." He thought back to the new, painful tension that had risen between them since their reunion. They'd been building up to a big, explosive fight for some time. And Zoro knew it would clear the air this time, because he was entering into it with a clear heart.

"Can I ... I would like to ask you a question," Allie said unexpectedly.

"Allie!" Mara admonished him.

Zoro studied the kid, the wet hair plastered to his freckled cheeks, the earnest, innocent eyes. Eventually, he nodded. "Okay."

"Why do you want to fight Sanji-san so badly?"

A strange thing happened. Zoro felt a number of different answers crowd his mind at the same time. _"Because I didn't get to dance with him at the party." "Because I enjoy the way he challenges me." "It's how we communicate." "To bring him home." "To kick his ass because he left me and it hurt."_

But the words that plopped out were "Because I love him."

Zoro and Allie both clapped their hands over Zoro's mouth. Allie's mouth hung open. "I am so sorry," he whispered. Slowly, he lowered his hands. "I didn't think you'd ... Please don't kill me."

Zoro looked over at the Straw Hats, to find them all trying and failing not to grin.

"The first one who laughs gets Shusui shoved up their ass."

Shusui was going to be busy, cause they all started laughing at the same time.

Luffy clapped him on the back. "Zoro is such a dork!"

Zoro punched him on the head. "I DIDN'T MEAN TO SAY IT!"

Luffy came up still laughing, but with genuine happiness now. He wound his arms around Zoro's neck and hung on. "That means Zoro and Sanji will be friends again, right? You're gonna confess to him, aren't you?"

"Shut up!" He tried to shove Luffy's happy face away. Because oh yeah, Cook would totally welcome that.

A moment later they were all hanging off him or leaning on him, except Robin, who was Zoro's new favourite crewmate.

"Zoro's in love with Sanji," Brook sang. "I think I'll compose a ballad. Two tragic lovers, their quarrelling the only way they can express their true feelings! I'll call it _Like a Lover's Kiss, Your Gentle Foot in My Face._ "

"No you won't!"

"Fufufufu, our big, strong swordsman is actually a big softie," Nami teased, poking his cheek.

"I said shut up!"

"Good on you, Zoro-bro. And you get to rescue him too! That's bound to impress him." Franky was probably being sarcastic, because if there was one thing that would piss Cook off it would be to be rescued by Zoro.

"Can you all just leave me alone!"

They heard the distant sound of thunder.

"Wait, was that-?"

Six cannonballs slammed into the square, hurtling cobblestones into the air and shaking the ground. Franky shielded the others as debris rained down on them. Through the ringing in his ears, Zoro could hear the screams of the wounded, panicking crowd.

"It's the Moon Citadel!" Allie said, ducking under Franky's arm to look out across the water. "Look! They're coming!"

A torrent of cloaked and masked pirates was pouring out of the ship and down the pier towards shore.

Mara grabbed Allie. "We need to get out of here before they fire again."

"What about everyone else?"

All around them, townsfolk and tourists were running heedlessly, men and women holding on to each other, carrying their children, weeping in fear. Mara ground her teeth. "We'll have to evacuate them." She turned to the Straw Hats. "You will take care of Gently?"

Luffy nodded quickly. "It's our fight anyway. Just get to safety."

"Be careful, everyone," Allie begged them, before running after his aunt, who had already begun to grab people left and right and give them orders like a proper general.

The Straw Hats walked down towards the harbour, where the swarm of Gently Pirates were gathering.

"So much for our Davy Back fight," Franky noted.

"Gently is honourless," Brook spat.

"No big surprise that," Nami said.

"I wonder where Sanji is," Chopper mumbled as he shifted into heavy point.

The Gently Pirates were a silent, black mass by the water's edge. They watched the Straw Hats and waited.

At the end of the square, the Straw Hats formed a line. Luffy began doing stretches and swinging his arms around. "Remember to go for the masks, and try not to kill anyone; these people are not bad guys." He looked thoughtful. "As far as we know."

Zoro wrung out his bandana and put it on, for habit's sake more than any practical reason; it wasn't going to be enough to keep the water out of his eyes.

Chopper looked balefully up at the sky. "Nami, can you do something about the rain?" He was looking increasingly like a drowned cat.

"Yeah," Franky grumbled. "It's killing my hairdo."

Nami twirled two pieces of her Clima-Tact between her fingers, wiggled her nose and considered the sky. "I can try."

"Why aren't they attacking?" Robin was studying the shadow-crowd. They were keeping close together, blocking the way to the pier, all quiet faces and quiet bodies, unmoving.

Zoro was wondering the same thing. He was watching the ship; if the Moon Citadel fired again, they'd need to take out the cannonballs before they hit the square.

"It's like they're waiting for something," Chopper said. "For Gently maybe?"

"He could have sent them to stop us from getting to him," Brook suggested.

Luffy was grinning as he cracked his knuckles. "Leave Gently to me."

"Be careful, Luffy," Nami admonished him. "We don't know what he can do."

"Pffft! He doesn't even have a bounty."

Nami grabbed his lower lip and pulled it out. "That's because he's clever and hides his strengths, idiot." She let go, making the lip smack him in the face.

"Okay." Luffy rubbed his smarting nose. He turned back towards the boat, grumbling. "I don't think he's as strong as me, though."

All of a sudden, the sky opened up and poured forth a torrent of rain that obscured sight and sound. Zoro could barely see his crew mates around him, much less anything else. He raised his hand in a futile attempt to shield his eyes. "Shit, I can't-"

Distant booms.

"Look out!"

The world exploded. Zoro was violently flung off the ground, losing track of up and down in the chaos, deaf and half-blind. Suddenly there was someone above him, a lanky figure in elegant blue uniform, a large blue hat hiding his face, and yet he was instantly recognisable.

"Cook?"

The blonde spun around, one burning leg sweeping towards Zoro, who had no chance to-

It slammed into his stomach like a sledgehammer and sent him hurtling through the air until he crashed into one of the stalls. Pain gripped his abdomen like a vice; he couldn't breathe, but instinct made him force himself forward anyway, and an instant later the stall was crushed behind him, splinters flying everywhere. In the wreckage stood Cook, a mocking grin on his face.

Zoro scrambled up, drawing his swords. "Cook," he wheezed, still struggling to breathe around the pain.

Cook raised his head. The mask he wore was white and winged, tipped in black and curving into a sharp little beak over his nose. His eyes were hazy and unfocused. He looked like a stranger.

"I've come for our fight," Cook said.

"Cook, listen-"

"I was told to tell you something," Cook continued as if he hadn't heard him. The way he was grinning was not compatible with his dead voice.

Zoro waited. He only had two swords drawn; Wado Ichimonji was still in its sheath, but he didn't dare to move, lest Cook attacked. He needed desperately to catch his breath, and Cook was faster than the devil when he kicked off; Zoro had to be ready.

"I was told to tell you that ... when you are dead ... when I've crushed your skull ... I'm going after the others ... Chopper, Franky, Brook, Usopp, even Robin-chan, even Nami-san." The grin seemed frozen on his face. Zoro felt the horror of the situation stealing over him. "My Captain will take care of Luffy. And when you are all dead ..." It was hard to hear his quiet, measured voice over the rain; Zoro found himself taking a step closer.

"When you are dead," Cook said again. "I am going to kill myself. I'll claw my throat open and bleed out. We're ending the Straw Hat Pirates here today."

Zoro shook with rage. "I know you can hear me in there, curly-brows, so listen up!" Cook stared at him. "I'm not gonna let this happen! Luffy will deal with Gently, and I will take care of you."

"How will you do that?" Cook asked. "You can't hurt me, I'm your nakama, but I will do whatever it takes to kill you. You think because we've always fought, you know how strong I am? I was holding back." Cook opened his mouth and laughed like a squawking magpie.

Zoro saw his chance, drew Wado Ichimonji and placed it in his mouth. "So was I."

   
~~~~~~

 

When the second volley hit the square, only Luffy remained standing. He saw Sanji appear out of the crowd and disappear with Zoro into the rain and smoke, but he couldn't follow, because the Gently Pirates were swarming up the harbour like a tidal wave ready to swallow their opponents. Luffy blasted them with emperor haki, making them stagger and faint in droves, but a surprising number of them powered through it. They bore down on him single-mindedly, swords, knives and claws flashing.

"Strong Right!"

"Gust sword!"

"Veinte Fleur!"

"Kung Fu Point!"

"Cane smack!"

The Gently Pirates where punched, pulled, kicked, blown and smacked away, and Luffy was free.

"Brook. What are you even doing, man?" Franky asked.

Brook gave one of the Gently Pirates an illustrative smack over the head with his cane. "Well it's not like I can stab them!"

Chopper knocked his pirate out with a swift hoof to the face, put him down and came over. "Why don't you use your violin?"

Brook looked offended. "And risk damaging my precious instrument?" He smacked another one.

"Not to smack them! Play for them!"

"Oh. Why didn't I think of that? I know they appreciate good music."

"Guys, we don't have time for this!" Nami shouted. She was using her staff to hold off a pirate wielding an axe. "Look at the Moon Citadel!"

Vaguely, through the rain, Luffy could see the massive ship turning its nose towards the mouth of the inlet, bringing its broadside back alongside the Sunny.

"If it fires ..." Brook said.

"It'll sink the Sunny!" Luffy shouted, leaping over two incoming opponents and running down to the pier, Franky on his heels.

"We'll hold these guys off!" Chopper shouted after them.

"We'll be too late," Franky said.

Luffy shook his head. "NEVER!" He stuck his thumb in his mouth. "GEAR THIRD!"

"Go for it!"

Luffy threw his huge fist back, stretching. "ELEPHANT GUN!" He heard the click of the cannons settling a moment before he crashed his fist into the rear of the Moon Citadel. The ship leapt forward, aft splintering, nose dipping into the sea before rearing up and sending waves of seawater over the pier.

"Good job!" Franky grabbed him and lifted him up to keep him out of the water. "Now hold on!" He jumped. "Coup de boo!" And sent them farting into the sky towards the big ship.

Luffy laughed even as he held his nose. "It stinks, Franky!"

"Effective though, isn't it." Franky landed lightly on the deck of the big ship, and put Luffy down. The deck was empty, open to the sky and the sheets of rain coming down.

"Yosh." Luffy pulled his hat further down on his head. "I'm gonna find Gently."

"I'll go below and disable the cannons." Franky flexed his big fingers. "And the cannoneers. Just remember what Nami said; we have no idea what that man can do, but he's clever."

"I know, I know. Come on."

They hurried towards the foredeck, where the doors to below would be. Once there, Franky picked a door on the left and headed into the bowels of the ship with one last nod to Luffy. Luffy picked the door on the right.

  
  ~~~~~~

 

Zoro yanked his swords up to block the first kick, Cook's sizzling boot hissing and spitting in the rain. Cook was still laughing. Zoro shoved him back with a mighty heave and swiped after him, but it was only to create distance. Cook had been right about Zoro's handicap; he was going to have to be careful how he attacked. Cook darted back into his space, and all thoughts disappeared into the flow of violence and adrenaline. Zoro parried, ducked, always an inch from death. He could feel the force of his nakama's kicks like a trembling in the air, the heat of his Diable Jambe burning against Zoro's cold face.

He had to fight back or he had no chance! With a burst of strength, he broke through Cook's defences, and stabbed Kitetsu towards Cook's thigh. Only for it to sink straight into the back of Cook's right hand.

Zoro choked on shock, withdrawing the sword and stumbling back. Cook held up his bleeding hand and studied it like a curiosity. "I warned you," he said. "The usual rules do not apply here. I will hold. nothing. back."

Zoro got a weird feeling that Cook was earnestly trying to warn him, like his true self was trapped somewhere behind the mocking exterior, fighting to get his message through. "It's about time!" Zoro bluffed. "I've been waiting for years for you to give me a proper fight."

Cook grinned. "Then the wait is over." He crouched to kick off, but Zoro, desperate to keep him on the ground, was faster, throwing himself on top him with the back of his swords primed.

Cook went down under him, but only for a moment, a knee to his chest making Zoro topple off. Cook danced away, Zoro forcing himself to follow, pushing his muscles beyond ache into numbness to keep up with the incredibly fast kicks keeping him at bay, and it was a dance, he realised suddenly, understanding all at once what Nami had meant that night on the Moon Citadel. He spun away from a counterattack, his steps matching Cook's. They were circling each other, ducking under each other's swipes and lunges, maybe it was even graceful, but, crucially, it wasn't _fun_ , and damn it, their fighting always had been, even when Cook was being infuriating beyond belief. That was what Zoro was fighting to regain; his sparring partner, the one who would always run after him when he wandered off (something they would both always deny), the man who made him hopping mad on a daily basis, but also challenged him like no one else did. He was worth every bruise, every wound. Zoro would save him.

An opening. Zoro lashed out with the butt of Kitetsu's handle, smashing it into Cook's hip and making him totter to the side. Zoro prepared a feint and a low sweep, but that's when he noticed that the white heat of the Diable Jambe was creeping up Cook's legs. It had reached his knees and more already.

For a moment their eyes locked. "It hurts, Zoro," Cook said, voice faint.

Like a fool, Zoro hesitated, and like lightning a Basse Côte caught him in the shoulder. He cried out, Shusui sinking like dead weight as his arm throbbed violently.

Cook laughed again. "DIE, RORONOA ZORO!" He lifted his leg high into the air, preparing an Épaule Sprawl.

Zoro forced Shusui up alongside Kitetsu and took the attack on the back of his blades. It felt like lifting Mihawk's castle. Which Zoro had done once. Cook continued to press down on him, gaining in crawling, lethal millimetres. Zoro felt the skin on his neck begin to blister as the burning leg came closer. There was rain in his eyes and in his nose, his body ached, he could feel his strength draining.

In a moment of weakness, he wondered ... _Was it my fault that you left?_

Cook leapt back as lightning struck between them. Both he and Zoro looked around. There! On top of one of the stalls still standing, Nami was busy working her weather magic against the rain.

In a second, Cook was running towards her, Zoro on his heels. He heard himself screaming for Nami to run, but she stood paralyzed. Zoro threw himself up and forward with all the speed he had, shoved his blades ahead of him-

They stood still.

Cook's foot was an inch from Nami's face. Zoro's blades made a triangle around Cook's neck. If either of the men moved at all, someone would die.

"Nami," Zoro said around Ichimonji's hilt. "Back away."

"S-Sanji-kun," she stammered.

"He's not himself," Zoro warned. He could feel the tension coiled in the body pressed against his own, and knew that Cook's various orders and instincts must be at war inside him.

But Nami moved minutely to the side instead, like she was testing the man for an opening!

"Stop it, crazy woman!" Zoro hissed.

"We need to get his mask off," she said, almost whispering. "And he can't hurt me, because, as you said, I'm a woman!" She raised a hand, but pulled it back with a yelp as the tip of Cook's boot stabbed the air where she had been.

"I told you! " Zoro growled. "And this is my fight!"

"I just saved your life, you ungrateful dodo," Nami said stubbornly, though her voice was pitched high in stress. "Next time I'll charge you for it."

Something changed in Cook, Zoro felt it, felt the man's throat press against Zoro's blades as Cook decided to forfeit his life in pursuit of Nami's. "Stop! Wait! You're disobeying orders!"

Cook hesitated. "Kill the Straw Hats," he mumbled.

"No. No, that's not what Gently said. Kill me first, then the others. Those are your orders."

Nami's eyes were widening in shock.

But to his immense relief, Zoro felt Cook sink back against him.

"His throat is bleeding," Nami whispered.

Zoro's moment of relief cost him. Too late he noticed Cook reaching into his jacket, and unable to move without risking Nami, he could do nothing as Cook stabbed his hidden blade into Zoro's side.

"AGH!" Zoro gritted his teeth and stood his ground, even as Cook began to twist the knife in the wound. "AAARHG!"

At the same time, Cook curled the fingers of his other hand around Shusui's blade to pull it away, uncaring that the bright edge cut into his flesh and made his hand slick with blood.

That's when Nami whacked Cook over the head with a piece of the Clima-Tact. Zoro yanked his swords away as Cook fell off the top of the stall to the ground below, his hat tumbling after him. Nami put her Clima-Tact away in her belt, grabbed the knife sticking out of Zoro's side and yanked it out.

"AAAH! FUCK!"

"You're welcome," she said mercilessly, dragging her wet hair away from her face. "Let's get his mask off." She held up the knife, and they both startled; it was a kitchen knife.

Zoro took Wado Ichimonji out of his mouth, swallowing around the nausea building in his throat. "Let's do it." He sheathed the sword.

They turned around-

Cook was gone.

Zoro looked around wildly. "Fuck! FUCK!" Instinct. Something was coming. He grabbed Nami around the waist and jumped, landed and ran, heard the stall splinter behind them, but did not look back.

Shadowy figures appeared and disappeared out of the pouring torrent. Men and women in dark cloaks bearing down on screaming townsfolk. Zoro used Kitetsu where he could, the blunt side, obviously, all the while feeling for pursuit.

"I can't make the rain stop!" Nami shouted into his ear. "It'll end when it's good and ready."

"Then fight. No point brooding over what we can't change."

"By the way, Zoro, where the hell are we going?"

Chopper, Robin and Brook appeared suddenly out of the rain, surrounded by cloaked, menacing opponents. Zoro forced his way through the clamouring ranks to join them, and put Nami down on her feet there. They were on the edge of the harbour. Had he kept going he would have run them right into the sea. Ops.

"Zoro! Nami!" Chopper hailed them. "You're alright!"

That was debatable.

Nami rapped her knuckles on Zoro's skull. "Did you have to take me where it's most dangerous, moron?" She looked down at herself. "AH! I'm covered in blood! Zoro, your wound!"

A tall masked pirate appeared out of nowhere, pistol aimed. Zoro sliced the weapon in two and used the blunt side of his sword to beat the man to the ground. Nami drew her Clima-Tact and blasted another one away with a gust of wind.

"Forget my wound!" Zoro said. There was no time to bind it, or mind the blood, even though he was beginning to feel weak and dizzy. He had to think.

The Gently Pirates were like cockroaches; they just kept coming, but more and more, Zoro was beginning to see the men and women behind the masks. He could almost feel their fear, their horror at what they were doing, see their bloodthirsty grins for the masks they were. They had to put an end to this.

Brook appeared at his side, wielding only his sword now, which was explained by the broken violin handle hanging at his side. "Zoro-san, I thought I saw Sanji-san before. Where is he?"

Zoro was about to answer when the answer presented itself in a familiar presence high above them. "There he is."

Zoro, Brook, Nami, Chopper and Robin looked up, shielding their eyes from the pounding rain. Faintly, they heard the warning words.

"Poêle à Frire. SPECTRE!"

They scattered as fire and death rained from the sky. Several Gently Pirates screamed as they were struck to the ground.

Looked like Cook had found a way to reconcile his orders; just kill everyone at the same time. As long as Zoro was Cook's overriding priority, he would have to keep him away from the others... Oh.

How overriding was that priority exactly?

"CHOPPER!" Zoro caught a glimpse of the pink hat and ran towards him, sheathing Shusui and Kitetsu. He would use only Wado Ichimonji; he'd need her gentle touch for this. "Chopper! Launch me!"

"What?" Chopper rose from where he had shielded an unconscious Gently Pirate boy from the fire. "But you have no control in the air! He'll kill you!"

"DO IT!"

He leapt, landed on Chopper's interlaced hands, and braced himself. With incredibly force, Chopper launched Zoro into the air. He flew like an arrow, eyes squinted against the rain, hand on Ichimonji's hilt, clearly signalling his single-sword attack and leaving himself wide open for a counter. If protecting the mask was the most important of Gently's commands, Cook would block the sword, but if killing Zoro held higher priority, he would have no choice but to use the opening Zoro was giving him, even if it meant the loss of his mask.

All at once, he could see Cook above him, the white heat all the way up his thighs now, blonde hair wet and sticking to his throat and forehead, blood running down from behind his mask. Blood? Why?

The second before they met, Zoro saw his own strategy dawn on Cook.

Mercilessly, Zoro drew his sword. Wado Ichimonji sang. The albatross mask split in two.

He saw Cook's lips form the words "Mouton Shot", and then he felt burning pain and impossible force sink into his injured side, and he shot back towards the ground in a haze of disoriented, blinded agony. The ground met him, and he lost consciousness.

  
  ~~~~~~

 

Luffy emerged back on deck without having seen a single Gently Pirate. For a moment he was left tapping his foot and looking around thoughtfully. There was another door, up a staircase and down the balcony. Hmmm. Luffy bounced up the stairs and tried the door. It opened.

It was a small, square room, dark and unlit. Hundreds of masks hung on the walls and littered the floor, where they had been thrown in the tumult. A desk stood in the middle of the room, probably nailed down, though the papers on it had scattered everywhere. the rain became a distant roar as Luffy stepped inside. Cold water dripped from his hair down his neck.

At the back of the room, Lethe lay huddled.

"Help me," she whispered.

Luffy stepped quickly through the debris and knelt at her side. She was bleeding from a cut on her forehead. Blood stained the edge of her purple mask. "Are you alright?" he asked. "Where's Gently?"

Lethe looked at him with heavy, tired eyes. "He sends his regards." She grabbed Luffy's wrist.

And suddenly he was nowhere. The room was gone. Lethe was gone. He was gone. He couldn't see, couldn't hear, not even his own breathing. _Was_ he breathing? Fear. He couldn't feel his limbs. He couldn't access any of his senses.

_Am I breathing?_

This was her power, he realised, even as a strange, empty sense of panic hammered at his brain. Lethe's devil fruit power. He wondered if his heart was beating fast. If he was gasping for breath. He couldn't tell. Couldn't feel anything.

Except ... He reached for his haki. And yes, through the blackness came a sense of presence, two in fact, his own and hers. She was pulsing, lifting her hand in a familiar motion. Using only his sense of his own aura, Luffy reached up and grabbed Lethe's arm, stopping her. He grabbed after the thing that her hand was curled around, and then he shoved her backwards.

The world returned in an instant, so complete that for a moment he was overwhelmed by sight and sound and taste and smell, and his heart was beating like it was trying to escape his chest, and he filled his lungs gratefully with air. Luffy looked down and saw that he had a knife in his hand.

"I didn't fail," Lethe said, pushing herself up along the wall. Distress was thick in her voice. "I didn't fail. I can't fail!"

"Don't worry," Luffy said. "We'll get that mask off you and then you'll be fine."

Her face transformed with rage, lips pulling back from her teeth in an animalistic snarl. "STAY AWAY FROM ME!"

"Woah." That must be the protective command Gently had given her. She clung to the wall, watching him with wild eyes.

Luffy got up slowly. "It'll be alright." He took a step towards her.

Something exploded outside, shaking the ship. Luffy lost his footing and landed on his ass, but Lethe ran, out the door and into the rain. Luffy got up and ran after her, but she had lept the railing and was already climbing overboard, and Luffy had something else to worry about; Franky was on deck, fighting a woman who, by the looks of her, was a reptile-type zoan user. Her scaly skin glistened, her toothy maw closing around Franky's shoulder even as he punched her in the stomach over and over. Sparks flew as her sharp teeth scraped over Franky's impenetrable chest, but she must have pierced his back somehow, because he was gasping and trembling in pain. There was a huge hole in the deck where they had come up from below. Two other Gently Pirates, a woman wielding throwing-knives, and a man with a club, were circling the two combatants, waiting for an opening.

"Franky!" Luffy shouted. "Gently isn't here! We need to go back!"

"I'm a little busy!"

"Have you tried putting your back into it?"

A moment later, the crocodile-woman slammed into the deck with roar, Franky on top of her.

As Luffy leapt into action against the two remaining Gently Pirates, he tried to track Lethe's fading aura. With a power like hers, she was incredibly dangerous. It would be troublesome if she escaped. But then, from one moment to the next, it didn't matter; another presence had met Lethe's on the pier, and it was familiar.

Luffy grinned to himself and concentrated on the battle at hand.

 

~~~~~~  
  

Robin had kept extra eyes on Franky and Luffy since they left, and so she saw Lethe climb down from the Moon Citadel and run towards the harbour. When Sanji attacked, Robin chose to go meet Lethe; Zoro and the others would take care of Sanji, while Robin would do what she could to gain the answers they had been grasping for ever since they arrived on Arashi Island. Because Lethe had them all, and she was coming this way.

Lethe stumbled to a halt when she saw Robin blocking her path.

"Everything will be alright," Robin said calmly, crossing her arms over her chest. "Doce Fleur!" Six arms enveloped Lethe's body, holding her still, and six more grew from her shoulders, two to pry her jaws open so she couldn't bite her tongue, two to hold her head still, and two more to pry at the knot to her mask.

Just like Allie had, Lethe began screaming like a banshee and thrashing about. Even tottering towards the sea like she would throw herself in. Robin quickly sprouted more arms to hold her in place, blinking rainwater out of her eyes and concentrating on the two hands struggling with the small, tight knot.

Behind her, she heard her friends screaming Zoro's name. She glanced behind her and saw him falling from the sky.

The knot began to give.

A Gently Pirate came running down towards them, axe lifted. Robin tripped him with another set of arms and used the same to lift his axe and knock him out with it.

Lethe howled, eyes wide and bloodshot, body shaking violently. The knot came undone and the screaming stopped abruptly. The mask fell.

 

~~~~~~  
  

Zoro woke because someone was slapping him. He opened his eyes. "I knew it was you," he groaned.

Nami smiled a sweet, stiff smile. "Could you wake up, please? We have a bit of an emergency."

Brook and Chopper helped him sit up.

Cook stood before them, the sea at his back, another knife in hand, watching them with empty eyes. The mask lay in two pieces on the ground, bound together by the still-knotted ribbon, but it had fallen away only to reveal a thick smear of blood covering Cook's eyes and nose.

"It's not the mask that's important," Nami whispered. "It's Gently's blood."

And Zoro could barely move, let alone keep fighting.

But the blood was running down Cook's face with the rain. Any moment now, Gently's control would be washed away. Zoro looked into Cook's eyes and saw that he knew it too, and he realised that there was only one person who was in danger now, because Gently was too intelligent not to leave instructions in case of failure.

Cook lifted the knife.

"NO!" Zoro found strength he didn't know he had and leapt at Cook.

 

~~~~~~  
  

Robin let Lethe go. For one moment, the two women just looked at each other, both breathing hard. Lethe's eyes blinked, blinked, and became her own, and filled with tears. Then she shut her eyes and bent double and screamed like her heart was broken, and the world pierced Robin's eyes and ears and skin, overwhelming her mind.

 

~~~~~~  
  

Just as Zoro's hand closed around Cook's wrist, he felt what could only be described as the world body-slamming him. They toppled backwards into the sea, Zoro blind and deaf and feeling every drop of rain like a needle-prick against his skin, Cook twisting to escape from Zoro's arms. The surface of the water struck them like a hammer.

With his senses either sharpened to the point of madness or completely shut down, Zoro lost track of everything except the body he was clutching, and a single, desperate thought. The water! Let the water have washed away the blood! He could feel Cook's pulse against his fingertips, feel his heart beating rapidly in his chest.

They broke the surface gasping, and when Zoro opened his eyes he could see again, and the rain was only a gentle pat-pat-pat against his face.

"Oi, let go of me, moss head!"

Cook was pushing against his chest with one hand, squirming to free himself.

"No, no, hang on!" With some difficulty, Zoro managed to swim himself and Cook to the shore, and pull them up. They crawled on land coughing and trembling, but Zoro recovered first and quickly straddled Cook, slipping the knife from his hands and tossing it away before pinning his wrists to the ground.

"Fucking-! Let go!" Cook glared furiously up at him.

"Are you yourself?" Zoro asked, taking Cook's chin in his free hand and tilting his head to inspect the traces of blood still lingering around his eyes. He rubbed at them. At least the patches were no longer connected across the bridge of his nose.

"I'm myself! I'm myself! Stop it!"

At least he sounded like himself again. Zoro collapsed on top of Cook in sheer relief, sighing tiredly with his forehead against Cook's chest. "Good. That's good."

Cook's hands, now free, hovered awkwardly next to Zoro's shoulders. Zoro wondered why the heart beating against his forehead was skipping so strangely.

"Hey, fat moss, get off me," Cook said, voice trembling.

"OOOOOOOI! ZOROOOO! SAAAANJIIIII!"

They scrambled apart as if burned just before Luffy bore down on them both with gleeful laughter. "YOU'RE OKAY!"

A moment later, Chopper added himself to their pile.

"Damn it, Chopper, you smell like a wet dog," Cook cried. "Get off!"

Chopper lifted Cook up and spun around with him. "You're back, Sanji! You're back!"

"Put me down, you furry monster!"

"Um, Captain." Nami tapped Luffy on the shoulder, forcing him to stop snuggling Zoro. "Zoro is actually injured, so ..."

Oh yeah. Now that Zoro thought about it, he was actually in considerable pain and quite close to passing out.

Luffy looked down to where blood had now soaked through both Zoro's and his clothing. "Why didn't you say so?"

"WHEN WAS I-?" He had to break off to cough and clutch his aching side.

"Chopper, put Sanji down and help Zoro."

"I hate to spoil the celebrations, everyone, but we're not quite finished here." Brook was holding off some ten Gently Pirates, who had picked themselves up again after Lethe's breakdown and were advancing, their single-minded intent intact.

"Let me!" Luffy bounced up. A moment later he and Brook were taking very good care of the sadly neglected pirates. It didn't take long.

Zoro was about to get up and retrieve Wado Ichimonji, dropped when he fell earlier, but Chopper put a big paw on his chest and pushed him back down with a sweet, threatening smile. "I'll get it."

Zoro grumbled, but Chopper was only gone a moment, and returned with the sword. Only once it was clean and safe in its sheath did Zoro consent to let himself be doctored at. Chopper brought down his backpack and began fishing around for needle and thread and antiseptic. It was his turn to grumble when he discovered how damp it all was.

As Chopper stitched him up, Zoro watched Cook. Cook was on his knees before Nami, begging her forgiveness in hushed tones, while she shook her head at him. To distract him, she sat down and told him about the first Davy Back game, and since she was his goddess, he could do nothing but listen. Zoro turned his face away. It felt petty to be jealous when everyone had been so worried about Cook. Certainly more than Zoro, who hadn't been worried. At all.

Down on the pier, Robin was cradling and rocking a hysterically weeping Lethe. Franky was with them, his big hands around Robin's shoulders. She seemed tired too, but held Lethe patiently, until the sobs quieted and Lethe lost consciousness. Then Franky lifted Lethe into his arms and carried her to shore.

"I'll take her to the hospital," Franky said. "I can check in on Usopp and let him know what's happened."

"I'll follow you in a minute," Robin said. "I'd like to sit with her." She touched Lethe's arm briefly.

Franky kissed Robin's forehead. "You were great, Nico Robin."

"So were you," she said, and pulled him down to kiss him deeply on the mouth. Franky left with a last hail to Luffy, who gave him two thumbs up, while Robin stepped in among the unconscious Gently Pirates and crossed her arms over her chest. In no time, masks were coming off left and right under her many, many clever fingers, and as they came off, their victims began to wake, groaning, stirring, wincing as their bruises made themselves known. They pushed themselves up on all fours, to their knees, and looked at each other with dawning joy.

Zoro was soon all sowed up and bandaged, but he remained seated, leaning on Sandai Kitetsu and Shusui, with Wado Ichimonji in his lap. The latter was humming with excited satisfaction, which Zoro could only wonder at. The other two felt like strength and focus in his spine, and after a week of them rebelling and snapping in his hands, that was as soothing as anything Chopper could administer.

Nami and Robin were among the Gently Pirates, helping them out of their daze, answering their questions and listening to their stories; having been denied their voices for so long, they must feel an overwhelming need to speak now that they were free. Not a few of them were crying, but they had been a crew for years, willing or not, and could comfort each other and share in the joy of their liberation. Chopper had gone into full doctor mode and was running around dabbing alcohol on cuts, smearing ointment on wounds, bandaging and splinting and lecturing.

Luffy was sitting on his haunches, talking with a woman to whom the others seemed to be deferring, like she was a leader of some sort. She was wringing out her soaked cloak and long black hair, looking alert and calm despite everything she had been through. "He came to shore with us, dressed like we were," she was saying. "Our orders were to conceal him and Sanji until the cannons fired again, and then to attack and hold you off until Lethe and Sanji had carried out their orders. Where he is now, I have no idea."

Gently. As long as he was running free on Arashi, this wasn't over.

_"I feel his footsteps on Arashi's shore."_

"Huh?" Zoro looked around. Had he imagined that? His ear tickled as if someone had whispered into it. He rubbed it with his shoulder. Probably just the wind.

"Did you say something?" Brook enquired.

Zoro shook his head slowly. "Um, did you hear ...?" He took in Brook's politely enquiring expression and knew he had not. "Forget it."

Another Gently Pirate, a big man with a timid air, pricked the woman on the shoulder. "Ha-Ha-Hanna?"

"Yes, Hiroki."

"What ab-bout Ni-Ni-cholas? I-I-I haven't seen him."

"Oh," Hanna said, like that meant something significant. She rose and began looking around the crowd.

"Who's Nicholas?" Luffy wondered.

"He is my f-f-friend," said the big man, wringing his hands in his lap. "And he can co-co-co-conceal himself and anyth-thing he touches."

"What, like invisibility?"

Hiroki shook his head. "N-no, it affects all the senses, not j-j-just sight."

Hanna cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted "Nicholas! Nicholas where are you?" She waited a moment and tried again. "Has anyone seen Nicholas?"

Further back in the crowd, someone answered. "He came out with us, but I haven't seen him since the rain started." A chorus of agreement rose from all around. No one had seen Nicholas since the battle began.

Hanna sat back down, brow wrinkled in worry. "Nicholas can hide himself from anything. Even Hiroki here can't see him when he uses his ability."

Luffy cocked his head to the side. "Huh? What can you do?"

Hiroki hunched in on himself a little. "I kn-kn-kn..." He went red and shook his head.

"It's not your fault, Hiroki," Hanna said, stroking his big back. She turned to Luffy. "Hiroki can sense people. He could close his eyes and tell you the exact position of every single person for miles around. He can even tell who is who if he is familiar with their signatures."

"That's amazing!" Luffy enthused. "Does that mean you could tell me where Gently is?"

Hiroki shook his head again. "Not if Ni-Ni-Nicholas is with him."

"Nicholas' ability works even against other devil fruit abilities," Hanna explained.

"Nicholas and I w-w-we-were C-Cap-Cap-Captain's spies," Hiroki confessed to his lap. "We've been fo-following you guys for days."

"Really?" Luffy asked. "We had no idea! You guys are really good!"

Hiroki buried his head in his hands. "N-n-no! I'm so ashamed!"

Luffy patted him on the head friendly-like. "It's not your fault. How could you help it?"

Hanna frowned. "If that bastard has Nicholas in his clutches still, he could be long gone by now and we would never know."

Hiroki's breath hitched on a sob. "P-p-poor Nicholas!"

Hanna put her arm around him. One of his other crew mates, a little blonde wisp of a girl, offered him a handkerchief.

Luffy was frowning to himself.

From the bystreets to the city, the townspeople were returning, trickling into the square to assess the situation and take in the damage. It looked like a battlefield, naturally, littered with debris from the shot-up cobblestones and crushed stalls. The fountain had taken a cannonball to the lip and was spewing water everywhere. Zoro wondered if there would be trouble for the now liberated Gently Pirates; the locals would be looking for someone to blame, and might not want to listen to a story of mind-controlling masks.

But for the moment, the clouds were breaking apart in the sky above, letting the sun come through.

Cook had slipped away down to the water to smoke. He must have gotten a cig off one of the Gently Pirates, because his own would be wet from the dip they'd taken. He was holding something in the palm of his hand, running his fingers over it thoughtfully. Zoro was watching him, and so saw the way he flinched when Brook said, "Ah! There comes Mara-san and Allie-chan!" The skeleton was shading his eyeholes, looking off towards the top of the square.

The Straw Hats rose, groaning and stretching their bruised bodies, feeling how tired they were. Only Cook did not turn to meet them, instead he hunched his shoulders as if to shield himself.

Allie came running. "You did it! You did it!" He jumped into Luffy's arms. "You were amazing!"

Luffy rubbed their noses together. "Of course we were. We're the Straw Hats!"

Mara looked out over the hundred or so Gently Pirates who were now just a hundred or so normal people. "You certainly seemed to have saved the day." She assessed her champions critically. "Though not without some trouble; you've looked better."

"You should see us on an off day," Zoro said.

She turned back to the Gently Pirates. "As for you lot!" She raised her voice so they could all hear her. "Welcome to Arashi Island! There's still a few days left of our annual festival that you can enjoy." She glanced behind her. "Though we've got some tidying up to do first." She shrugged. "And then when you're ready, we'll see about getting you back home to your families."

A great cheer went up from the liberated crew, along with a great deal of renewed sobbing. Hanna came to shake Mara's hand gratefully, and there were tears on her cheeks too. "I have two children and a husband at home, and I have longed for them every single day for two years. I had almost given up on ever seeing them again."

Mara clapped her on the shoulder.

Hanna smiled through her tears. "As for the tidying up, we can help with that. It's our doing after all."

While this was going on, Allie had slipped down to stand beside Cook by the water. Cook had one hand in the pocket of his blue trousers, while the other held his cig up before his mouth.

"I'm so sorry, Sanji-san, for everything I said and did," Allie was saying, hands curled shyly under his chin.

Cook shook his head. "I'm the one who should apologise. I could have grabbed you and run. If I had ..."

"Oh no! You didn't know what was going on. Gently had everything planned out. If you had tried to run, he would have made Lethe stop you." Allie reached out, tentatively, and touched Cook's arm. "I'm sorry about your friend."

Cook looked at him in confusion. "What?"

"Gently was your friend, and he betrayed you. I know I haven't known you for very long, but I think you're a good person, and you definitely didn't deserve to be hurt like that."

Cook swallowed, and took a trembling, awkward drag of his smoke. "You're a good kid, Allie. You'd make a great Straw Hat, if you came with us."

Luffy gave Mara a big obnoxious grin.

Mara returned it with a flat look, before her mouth quirked into a smile. "You know what, Allie, if you want to become a pirate, you have my blessing."

Allie turned around. "Really?"

"Yes, absolutely. When you turn eighteen."

"What?"

"Yep, and also you have to explain it to your father."

"Aunty!"

"Speaking of," Mara continued, ignoring her nephew sticking his tongue out at her. "Maybe he could organise passage across the Red Line so these poor people can go home."

Allie frowned. "But dad could be anywhere on the Grand Line."

Zoro felt they were making this more difficult than it had to be. "Why not ask the marine officer running around the island? If she's still here. It's kind of odd we haven't seen her at all."

"Marine officer? What marine officer?" Mara asked, confused.

That's right; Luffy, Brook, and Franky were the only ones who knew. "I met a marine officer last night," Zoro explained. He had pretty much forgotten about her in the scramble to stop the Gently Pirates from sailing.

Mara looked at him with profound scepticism. "There are no marines on this island, Roronoa."

"How do you know?" he asked, and since he was an adult, he didn't sound sullen or anything like it. "Ships come and go here all the time."

She planted her hands on her hips. "I know, because for one thing, news of that kind would travel like wildfire, and secondly, any marine stopping here would be told to bring me whatever news there are of Allie's father and his division."

"I know what I saw," Zoro insisted. "She wore the officer's jacket and uniform. She was a marine."

"I've seen her too!" Chopper piped up unexpectedly. "She saved me." He looked to Nami and Brook. "You must have seen her! She got between me and Furia, right before Usopp shot her."

"Chopper," Nami said slowly. "There was no one there. We saw you and Furia, that's it."

"But ..." The reindeer turned to Zoro. "It was like you said! She had the jacket on, and ... she had short hair, kind of red-ish brown. She was pretty!"

Zoro nodded. "That's her."

Allie was staring at them like he had been slapped in the face.

"How dare you ..." Mara's lips were pressed to a thin line, and her eyes were wide with outrage. "Is this some kind of sick joke?"

Chopper popped into his smallest form and hid behind Zoro's legs. "It's not! I really saw her! She saved my life!"

"Where did you see her, Zoro?" Luffy asked.

"Up in the graveyard," he replied. "Where Brook found me. She was distressed about something, said someone had come to Arashi to hurt her child."

"I didn't see anyone," Brook said. He tapped his hollow cheek. "It was in the little dell east of the tower. Not a lot of places to hide."

Allie tottered over to Mara, who pulled him close, glaring furiously at Zoro and Chopper. "You couldn't have seen her." She said firmly. "It's not possible."

"Why not?" Chopper said unhappily.

Allie hid his face. Mara's eyes were shiny. "Because Rica is dead, and that dell is where she lies buried."

Zoro felt Chopper's hooves dig suddenly into his leg. Surprisingly, the other person to startle was Cook. Zoro supposed he hadn't known Allie's mother was dead at all.

 _There are no such things as ghosts_ , Zoro thought, remembering the way the woman had appeared and disappeared as if part of the mist. "I swear," he said firmly, "it's not a lie, or a joke. I saw her. She spoke to me."

Allie looked at him, and his eyes were so full of conflicting sorrow and hope that Zoro regretting saying anything at all. The boy untangled himself from his aunt, who let him go only reluctantly, and came towards Zoro and Chopper. "There's an easy way to tell if you're lying."

Zoro and Chopper exchanged glances, and both nodded. "Ask," Zoro said simply.

"Allie, don't listen to this!" Mara begged him.

"Did you really see her?" Allie asked.

"Yes," Zoro and Chopper said simultaneously.

Luffy crossed his arms over his chest. "See? If Zoro and Chopper say they saw her, then they did see her. They wouldn't lie."

"But how is it possible?" Nami wondered. "Why didn't we see her? How can she just have disappeared?"

"How did she die?"

Everyone turned to look at Cook. He was looking at Allie almost fearfully, as if he dreaded the answer to his own question.

Allie just stared at him.

Mara's face was dark and furious. "This is mad."

"How did she die, Allie?" Cook asked again, almost pleading.

Allie's expression hardened. "She was murdered."

Cook flinched and shut his eyes hard.

Allie took a step towards Cook and asked very deliberately, "Why do you ask?"

"Because-" Cook choked, grabbing his throat with one hand holding something out to Allie in the other. "Because I need to know if it's my fault!"

In his open palm lay an albatross pendant like the one people wore all over the island, except it was gray with age.

"Is that ...?" Mara asked breathlessly.

Allie reached for it, picked it up with trembling fingers, and it was his turn to look like he dreaded what he would learn as he turned it around. There was something written on the bird's back. "It's mom's pendant," Allie said, voice distant. He swayed on his feet. "I gave it to her." He cradled it in his hands. "I wanted her to wear it and think of home when she was at sea."

"She did," Cook said. "It reminded her of you." He tipped his head back and looked up at the sky. "I recommended a Sauvignon Blanc from Dressrosa with her starter. It was something simple; salad and bread, I think. She had a cherry panna cotta for dessert. She promised she'd come again on her way back."

The Straw Hats stood rooted to the spot. Rica had eaten at the Baratie? But ... did that mean ...?

"There was no way back! Not for her!" Mara said harshly. "Someone cut her throat and dumped her in the sea." She strode forward. "And if you were involved then-"

"Please calm yourselves." Robin stepped in between them. "This is shocking, and painful, and I hate to interrupt, but we have a pressing problem." She turned to Cook. "I've been speaking to Gently's crew, and it seems Gently's most likely plan was to have Nicholas hide him until he could predict the outcome of the battle."

"That man can go to hell for all I care!" Mara shouted.

Robin nodded, mild with understanding, but firm on her cause. "And we all assumed he would run away when he realised he had lost his crew." She turned back to Cook. "But that would make him a coward, and Gently is, I think, not that."

Cook nodded, but seemed unable to speak. Zoro had a sudden, strong need to hold and protect him. It was new and usual and rather unsettling.

"The crew tells me this island was his goal all along," Robin continued. "He didn't just stop here on the way; this is where he meant to come from the beginning."

Hanna, a little frightened, but determined, spoke up. "It's true. He was obsessed with this place. We've broken into government facilities purely to steal information on Arashi, its inhabitants, it's culture ... He wanted to meet the Straw Hats here, that was all we were told. Only Lethe and the Demonas knew all he was planning and why."

"Whatever it was, he has failed to accomplish it," Robin said, holding out her hands to keep Mara's fury contained for another moment. "And for that reason, I do not believe he has left."

"So he's still around," Zoro said. "And he's still dangerous, we know. We'll deal with him later."

Robin shook her head. "Did no one consider, that if he is using Nicholas' ability to hide in plain sight, then he could be here, right in front of us, and we wouldn't know until it was too late?"

That's when Allie disappeared into thin air.

 

~~~~~~  
  

It was too much, it was too much to take in, but in that moment, as the cries went up and everything was shuddering chaos, the only thing that mattered was Allie. So Sanji did what he had been unable to do all those long, torturous minutes by the waterside, with the sun hot on his neck and the waves lapping sweetly at the shoreline, and the albatross pendant a lead weight in the palm of his hand; he embraced the truth.

Jirou had murdered Rica. He had seen her necklace, and struck with the poetry of it, the albatross returned in human form, he had murdered her as he had done the poor bird, and now he was here on Arashi to finish the job, and it was Sanji's fault.

"Where did they go? Where did they go?" Mara was hysterical.

Everyone had drawn weapons, Robin was sprouting hands like daffodils all over the ground, trying to find and grab Jirou or Nicholas in passing.

Sanji's heart was hammering in his throat. He had to think! Where would Jirou go? It would have to be perfect. It would have to be poetic. He had always been dramatic, even about little things.

... Of course!

Sanji spun around and looked to where the heavily damaged Moon Citadel listed in the water. It was perfect. It was poetic. Jirou's intentions had been clear from the very beginning. Sanji sprinted down the pier without looking back, though he heard his nakama shout his name. His legs were painfully sore, but he ignored it, running like a madman towards the massive ship. Towards the albatross figurehead, with its head bowed in death.

Something was lying on the ground at the end of the pier. Sanji skidded to a halt and snatched it up. The pendant. Clever Allie must have dropped it as a clue. Sanji kicked off and ran through the air over the railing and the slanted aft deck, over the middle mast platform and down on the other side, landing before the bow of the ship.

Jirou was standing on the head of the albatross with Allie in front of him. He held a knife to Allie's throat. Allie was crying, his eyes wide and fearful.

A masked pirate, probably Nicholas, lay on deck in a heap like an abandoned puppet.

"Well done, Sanj!" Jirou crowed. "You understood! It has to be here. This is perfect."

"Don't do this, Jirou!" Sanji cried. The pendant felt oddly hot in his hand.

_"Save my child."_

What?

Jirou laughed, a sharp, cawing sound, and Sanji wondered how he had managed not to see the madman behind the mask in those two years on the Baratie. He swallowed bile as he thought of the things he had let Jirou do to him, the things he had done to Jirou.

"You told me to come back in a few years," Jirou cackled. "And I did. Well, Sanj, I would say this means I've won, wouldn't you? Let's finish it. Let's kill the albatross one more time."

_"Save my child."_

"ALLIE! SANJI!" The others came running from the aft deck, stopping dead when they saw Jirou's hold on Allie.

Mara stumbled forward, tears streaming down her face. "Allie! My Allie! Let him go, please!" Luffy grabbed her, holding her back.

"Perfect!" Jirou said, laughing again. "Perfect. How about it, Sanj? Shall we kill two birds with one stone? How about you turn around and tell Roronoa Zoro your little secret?"

Sanji couldn't help but glance behind him, catching Zoro's eye just for a moment. He thought of Zoro's weight on top of him, those strong hands pinning him. How good it had felt.

He turned around again, trying to work up his courage, but it wasn't fast enough for Jirou.

"No?" the madman asked, disappointed. "Should I tell him? Wait, I have a better idea! Allie, ask your question again. Come on, ask Sanji one more time!" He laughed like he couldn't control himself.

Allie was shaking like a leaf, but there was more than just fear in his eyes, there was rage too. "I'll never! I'll never! You ... you ...!"

Jirou dug the knife in, making blood run down and stain Allie's shirt. "What? Come one, Allie-kun, speak up."

Allie shut his eyes hard and yelled, "Did you kill my mother?"

Jirou stuck his mouth close to Allie's ear and said, "Yes. I cut her throat and put her body in a freezer."

Mara covered her mouth with her hands and sank to the ground, Luffy still holding her. Allie sobbed.

"She's not dead, Jirou!" Sanji yelled. The pendant was burning hot in his palm. He could see Rica clearly before his inner eye, her lovely face, her playful smile. So clearly could he see her that it was almost like she was there.

_"Save my child. Save my Allie."_

"Save him yourself," Sanji whispered to the pendant, and then he threw it at Jirou.

Jirou caught it in the air, and in that moment she appeared before them, her white greatcoat fluttering in a breeze that did not touch the living, the sun shining through her and in her, blazing with her rage.

_"RELEASE MY CHILD!"_

Jirou screamed and staggered backwards as if struck, pulling Allie with him, his feet slipping on the rain-slick wood, and with a cry they both fell backwards off the figurehead, with Sanji leaping through the air after them.

He dived into the black water, observation haki pulsing, and kicked downwards after the rapidly sinking devil fruit users, even though the saltwater seared his thighs. For some reason Jirou was sinking much faster than Allie, how was that possible, he would soon be out of reach, Sanji found Allie in the dark and pulled him into his arms, but Jirou was disappearing into the deep, and Allie needed air, Sanji couldn't-!

_No, no, what is happening?_

Before he turned and kicked back towards the surface, just before Jirou was entirely lost to the dark, Sanji could have sworn he saw a white, winged creature with glittering eyes dragging the unconscious man down into death.

He swam upwards, heart pounding with fear and sorrow, lungs aching, legs burning, but light glittered above him, and when he broke the surface there were many hands there ready to pull him and Allie to safety.


	7. Chapter 7

 

The island's hospital was connected to a big park. A massive oak had been planted there long ago, and a pretty white bench had been placed underneath it. The last sunlight of the day, hot and orange, bathed the oak in bronze and the bench in white gold.

Corin had pulled her long, dark hair into a ponytail and was idly playing with it, sometimes stroking fascinated fingers over the large, white shirt the nurses had given her to wear. With her makeup washed away, and with her large eyes clear and focused, she looked like a different person.

Lethe was no more.

She and Robin sat side by side on the bench. Nami sat at their feet with her legs crossed, picking long blades of grass and twining them around her fingers. Luffy was stretched out in the sun, softly snoring, and Brook was reclining against the trunk of the oak with a flute in his hands, playing softly for the wind and the evening.

Even Usopp had nagged his way out of bed and into a wheelchair, which the nurses would never have allowed if they weren't completely swamped with patients and needed the bed space. So there he sat, full of painkillers and with his leg in bandages. He was quite satisfied with himself.

Chopper was busy at the hospital, and Franky was already busy preparing the restoration of the market square with the town officials.

Robin thumbed over a page in the poetry book and read. "Ah! well a-day! what evil looks had I from old and young! Instead of the cross, the Albatross about my neck was hung."

Corin drew her bare feet up on the bench and leaned her chin on her knees. "Don't read anymore, Robin-san. Close the book."

Robin obeyed, putting the little book away in her pocket. "I suppose you've heard it often enough."

Corin's eyes were heavy. "O wedding guest," she recited in a whisper. "This soul hath been alone on a wide, wide sea. So lonely 'twas, that God himself scarce seeméd there to be." She sighed. "He wanted me to read it all the time. He even made the orchestra put it to music over and over. I took solace from it in the beginning; the lovely words, the powerful imagery, but soon there was only his voice in my head, his cruel eyes staring at me as I read. I'm afraid I will never escape those eyes."

"He's gone, Corin," Nami said. "Truly gone. He will never hurt you or anyone ever again."

Corin nodded.

"Where will you go after this?" Robin asked. "Do you have someone waiting for you?"

Another slow nod. "My grandparents ... If they are still alive."

"Think of how happy they'll be to see you," Usopp piped up from his chair.

"They will be quite surprised; they think I ran off to get married. If they believed the letter, that is. But three years later they must be wondering why I never wrote again or came to see them at all."

"Three years!"

She twisted her hair around and around between her fingers. "I was the first of his crew. If he hadn't found me and my ability, I can't imagine how he would have pulled off his scheme. ... I've helped him do some ... really bad things." She bit her lip and hunched in on herself, avoiding their eyes.

Until a hand rose up out of her knee and booped her on the nose. Robin leaned in and gave her a warm smile. "None of that was your fault," she said emphatically.

Nami pinched Corin's big toe. "None of it, you hear?"

Usopp had his arms crossed over his chest and was frowning thunderously. "That man was sick. It makes me so angry to think of the way he used his crew."

"But how was it possible?" Nami asked Corin. "How did he manage to keep over a hundred people prisoner for three years without anyone finding out? Didn't anyone ever lose their masks? Didn't anyone ever get suspicious?"

Robin was curious about these things too. "And how exactly did his ability work?"

Faint amusement showed on Corin's face. It made her look lovelier immediately. "You are very curious. Unlike your captain." She indicated the happily dreaming rubber-man lying spread-eagled in the grass.

Nami gave him a flat look. "Don't mind him. He always needs a long nap and a big meal after a fight."

"Just after a fight?" Usopp joked.

"And the past was never his passion," Robin added more kindly. "Luffy lives in the now; who we once were does not matter to him."

"It would be nice to live like that," Corin said.

Robin agreed.

"I'll try to answer your questions," Corin continued. "I owe you that. They're all tied together really. The kamen kamen fruit was blood-based, as you've probably figured out. A mask or functioning substitute stained with even just a drop of his blood gave him the ability to command whoever wore it for as long as they kept it on. However, the wearer remained themselves; they would simply be forced to carry out any command he gave them. We fitted our personalities around the limitations that he set on us." She shivered, and rubbed her arms for warmth. "I was his test-subject. My frequent attempts to escape taught him the many layers of commands he would need to keep a whole crew of victims."

The Straw Hats listened in disturbed silence.

"He was always looking for people with useful talents, be they devil fruit abilities, or practical things like cooking, carpentry, navigation or medicine. We began in San Faldo, where people in masks were a common sight, and where we waited for our ship to be built. In order to create a believable theme for his crew, he needed musicians and dancers, and so our numbers grew. Always, he kept me on his arm, enhancing his sight or hearing as he needed it, or robbing new victims of their senses long enough for him to force them into a mask."

A wind blew through the park, making the oak sway and its leaves rustle.

"Of course the risk grew with each new crew member, but once we set sail we became strangers to everyone we met, and the questions they asked were fewer. Most of the crew were confined to the ship anyway, to make sure nothing in their behaviour made the locals suspicious."

Nami looked up at Corin with her head tilted to the side. "Didn't anyone ever manage to run?"

"Yes and no ... Like I said, there were a number of commands given to every new crew member, meant to keep such a thing from happening. Some of them reinforced our loyalty to the crew and the captain, while others made sure we never took off the masks, or let anyone else touch them. Chief among the latter orders was that if all else failed, we were to destroy ourselves before the mask came off. That way, none of us would ever be able to spill his secrets."

Nami stared at her, speechless and horrified. She did not ask for details.

"But you fought your orders," Robin pointed out. "You came looking for us against Gently's wishes, to warn us."

Pride made Corin lift her head. "Yes, I fought. After three years, I finally felt his hold over me slipping. It was Sanji-kun, I think, who caused it; it was unbearably exciting for Captain to see Sanji-kun again, and to be so close to his goal. It made him lose focus. It wasn't much, but I dug my fingers into that crack and pulled at it with all my might." She looked at Robin. "It didn't do much good, though. In the end."

"I think it did," Robin assured her. "Don't sell yourself short."

Corin studied her own slender hands in the sunlight. "I don't know. It is little when measured against all the horrible things ..." She trailed off again, eyes growing shiny. "I always knew my ability could be used to hurt people, but Captain taught me ways to cause pain I had never even thought of. I think he found it amusing, because when we first met, I told him I wanted to be a healer."

"You can still be," Robin said. "And now that your devil fruit has awakened, you are no longer limited by having to touch your target."

"Think of all the good your ability can do," Usopp said encouragingly. "Restoring sight or hearing in the elderly, numbing pain. If you could discover a way to alter senses permanently, you could do miracles."

Corin gave him her first full genuine smile since the mask fell.

"Hello, everyone!"

Allie and Mara came strolling through the park. Allie was waving.

"There you are," Nami said as they neared. "Where have you been?"

Both of them bore signs of having shed tears, but they seemed peaceful, and Allie was smiling.

"We went to visit mom's grave." Allie plopped down in the grass next to Nami, who put an arm around his shoulders.

"All's quiet," Mara said. She put her hands in her pockets and tipped her face up to the sun.

"That's good, right?" Nami said, rocking Allie back and forth. "That means she's found peace."

Allie nodded quickly, still a little teary. "We're gonna plant new flowers there tomorrow."

"That's nice."

Mara shook her head to herself. "I can still barely believe I saw what I saw. That she would ... come back."

"She came back to save her family," Robin said. "That's how much she loved you."

"It's too bad you had to see her in such a terrible moment, though," Usopp said sympathetically.

Allie bit his lower lip on a smile. "Aunty told me what you saw, and what you heard, but, and I don't know how this is possible, what I saw and what I heard was a little different from that." But what Rica had said to her son in that moment of crisis, Allie did not share, and the others did not ask.

"Now." Mara turned to Corin. "I am told you can solve a mystery or two for us."

"Me?" Corin asked.

"Yes." She wrinkled her brow. "I guess we haven't been properly introduced, despite having had tea together that one time. My name is Mara. Pleased to meet you." She held out her hand, and Corin shook it with some bewilderment.

"Um ... I'm Corin. Thank you for the tea that time."

"You mean ..." Nami began. "You think Corin knows what happened to Rica?"

Robin frowned. "Are you sure this is something you want to know, Mara-san?" She also looked to Allie, but he nodded.

"We want to know," Allie said. It was clear they had discussed this between them already. "You can't move on from a mystery, and we won't have a second chance to learn the truth either, not once Miss Corin leaves."

"I should warn you," Corin said quickly. "It's possible even my version is not the truth."

They looked confused, so she elaborated. "Captain was the kind of man who would always tell five different versions of a story, just to make sure no one ever really knew him. However, he took a sadistic sort of pleasure in sharing his secrets with me, especially because his truths were often worse than the lies, but while I say truths, I don't know for sure. Maybe he was inventing version number six just for me. You understand?"

Mara and Allie looked at each other, but nodded.

"Better something than nothing," Mara said decisively.

"Very well. I will tell you what he told me, then."

Robin gave Mara her seat on the bench, and sat down in the grass instead.

Corin began. "Captain and Sanji-kun first met on land, when Captain tried to steal his wallet from him while pretending to be starving, but Sanji-kun, rather than just giving him some of the wares he was buying, offered to give him a full meal and a bed for the night if Captain came with him. Captain's curiosity was piqued by the kind, unafraid boy, and so he went with him. That was how he arrived on the Baratie, where he ended up staying as a waiter, but after over a year living and working on the floating restaurant, the boy, who was now calling himself Jirou, realised he was nearing the end of his welcome."

Nami had sat up. "Wait, what?"

"Calling himself?" Usopp echoed.

Corin looked at them shrewdly. "I told you, he was always lying. Gently was not his real name, what makes you think Jirou was?"

"But then what was his name?" Usopp wondered.

She shrugged. "I don't know. It was one of the few things he didn't share with me."

The women shivered, and everyone were suddenly busy looking elsewhere. Corin picked up on it. "What, you think ...? No! Not that. That was the other thing."

No one seemed to want to pry, but Usopp eventually ventured a small "But ... he kissed you that one time?"

She shook her head. "What did I say? Always lying. It was a display for Sanji-kun's sake. Captain had no interest in women, and preferred willing partners. It is the one violation that he did not force on us."

She continued. "So the boy, Jirou, had realised it was time to move on from the Baratie. The Head Chef especially was becoming suspicious of his character, and wanted him gone. He had already played a dangerous game for a long time, since he had been a wanted man even before he came to the Baratie, and there were frequently navy soldiers dining there, but it was a challenge, and Captain enjoyed those."

"Also at this time, the old beast inside him was waking up, and it was hungry. It was one of his few weaknesses, that he had a craving for violence that he couldn't control, but being that he was about to leave anyway, he permitted himself a last indulgence. The victim was an albatross." She hesitated. "I don't want to tell you that story; it belongs to Sanji-kun, but I will tell you what happened after. It was Jirou's final day on the Baratie; he had planned to slip away in the evening and use the cover of darkness to get some distance between himself and the restaurant. Now, Captain liked to boast that he was favoured by fate. How else could such a perfect chain of events have lined themselves up for him? A couple of days before, he had killed an albatross, an act of pure destruction, a way to stamp his memory irrevocably on the young lover who had began to turn from him, and now there the creature sat, at a table sipping wine, returned from the grave in the guise of a woman. He saw past its disguise, however, for it wore its own likeness in a pendant around its neck." Her smile was deprecating. "I don't know whether he truly believed any of this, but he loved the drama of it, the theatricality ..." She looked around and realised she had lost her listeners. "What's wrong?"

"... His lover?" Nami said, when she managed to pick her jaw up from the grass.

Brook was tooting helplessly on the flute like he'd forgotten how music worked.

"You didn't ... know?" Corin covered her mouth with her hands. "Oh, I am so sorry!"

Robin masked her surprise a little better than her flabbergasted crew mates, but was no less taken aback than they. Then again ... "Really," she began carefully. "Is it such a surprise? Would it not, in fact, explain a great deal?"

"I suppose," Usopp said, "our prince doth protest too much."

"I am so, so sorry!" Corin repeated, wringing her hands. "I didn't mean to reveal something so private. I just get so giddy being able to say all these things out loud and I can't seem to stop myself-"

"What things?" Robin said calmly.

The others looked at her. She continued to smile.

"Oh," she heard from Usopp.

Robin winked and Nami and Brook. They looked at each other, and then nodded. It was best that they left this alone for now. Sanji would tell them when he was ready. He had experienced enough violations of his privacy already, and didn't need this to come out on top of everything.

"Please continue with your story, Corin," Nami said. "Whatever it was you didn't mean to say, I didn't really catch it."

"Such lovely weather we're having," Brook said.

Corin looked from one to the other. "You mean ... oh! Alright. I'll continue, but what's left is not ... very pleasant. Are you sure ...?"

Mara and Allie both nodded.

Corin played with the hem of her trouser leg. "I'll spare you the details, but ... By the time Rica left the restaurant, it was late. Jirou followed her out on deck. He had packed everything and was ready to leave. He lured her below deck by pretending there was a call for her, and then ... then he took her life."

New tears ran down Allie's cheeks. Nami pulled him close and stroked his back.

"He took her necklace," Corin said, very quietly. "And sailed away in her little ship. He was hoping that Sanji-kun would discover her in the morning when he went to get the day's supplies from the freezer room. What he didn't know at the time ..." she hesitated. "This is a little difficult without saying too much. What happened with the albatross ... caused Sanji-kun to take drastic measures against Jirou. He had already talked to the Head Chef, lied, in fact, about Jirou, to make the Head Chef dismiss him from the Baratie. So in the morning, the Head Chef ... What was his name again?"

"Zeff," Nami said.

"Yes! Zeff sent Sanji-kun on an early supply run, and Sanji-kun was distressed enough that he left without doing his usual round. Neither of them knew that Jirou had already gone. Understand, I don't know much about this, because Captain only learned of it from Sanji-kun yesterday, and had little time to share it with me, but it seems Sanji-kun has blamed himself for Jirou leaving for years, thinking Zeff dismissed him."

"But why wouldn't Zeff tell Sanji that Jirou had gone?" Usopp wondered.

"And how did my sister's body end up on the beach with that old fisherman?" Mara interjected.

"I think at this point we can venture a guess," Robin said, cupping her chin in hand.

Nami was nodding. "Zeff is no fool. Once Rica was discovered, and Jirou was found to have packed his bags and left, the old man would quickly have put two and two together, especially if he had doubts about Jirou from before."

Usopp tapped a finger against his nose. "And then his first thought would go to Sanji."

"Wait, wait, is this Zeff your fisherman from last night?" Mara asked.

Corin and Allie were looking between them with interest and confusion, having not been privy to that conversation.

Nami nodded. "I think we were right. For one thing, he matches the description, but more importantly, we now have his motive."

Mara's mouth was turning strict. "And what may that be?"

Usopp smiled a little sadly. "It would have crushed Sanji to discover that his best friend was a murderer, especially if the victim was a woman, and Sanji is like a son to Zeff, so Zeff would do anything to make sure Sanji was spared that gruesome truth. "

Of course, Mara couldn't help but relate to that, having done some questionable things herself to protect Allie from the same knowledge.

"Taking Rica to that village was the only thing he could do to protect Sanji-kun, while also making sure Rica was brought back to her family," Robin said.

Allie wiped tears from his cheeks.

"And yet it was a choice that lead to Gently's escape from justice," Mara said darkly. "He must have realised that!"

"We don't know everything," Usopp reminded her. "He might have looked for Jirou himself, or sent the marines an anonymous tip."

"Raphael never heard of anything like that," Mara argued stubbornly.

"He might not have," Nami said. "Because the nearest marine base was the 153rd branch, and it was run by Axe Hand Morgan at the time. He was too busy extorting the locals to bother with such a thing as his actual duties." She shook her head dismissively. "We're moving into conjecture though. Unless Sanji-kun writes to Zeff, we'll never know the whole story."

Usopp chewed on a fingernail. "I still wish I knew what that incident with the albatross was."

He glanced at Corin, but she shook her head resolutely. "That's for Sanji-kun to share or keep to himself as he will."

"I hope he shares it with someone," Nami said, fishing a handkerchief from her pocket to give to Allie for his tears. "Because I don't think he's quite finished with this story."

"Where is Sanji-san anyway?" Brook wondered.

Usopp made himself comfortable in his wheelchair. "He's down at the harbour."

"What?" Nami exclaimed. "Why is he there? Why isn't anyone with him?"

"Don't worry, don't worry," Usopp said, grinning to himself. "We sent Zoro down there some time ago."

She looked sceptical. "You sent ... Zoro ... to find him ... on his own?"

Usopp waved her complaint away. "I said don't worry. Hiroki located Sanji down at the pier, so Chopper and I sent Zoro in the other direction. By Zoro-logic, that should lead him straight to Sanji."

Down in the grass, Luffy was beginning to stir. He gave himself a long stretch and yawned, before sitting up and peering sleepily around him.

Nami gave Corin a "check this out" look.

"You know what we need, guys?" Luffy said.

"Here it comes," Nami mumbled.

"We need a banquet."

Nami looked at Corin. "A long nap and a big meal."

Corin chuckled.

"A party would do us all good," Robin said, smiling. "It's a great idea, Captain."

 

~~~~~~  
  

Zoro found Cook sitting on the tip of the pier, with the Sunny on his left and the half-submerged Moon Citadel on his right. He was smoking.

The sun was going down in the hills behind them, but the sea still glittered in its last light. A few gray clouds lingered down here, but they would soon sail away with the sea breeze.

"Chopper sent me. You ran off before he was done with you."

The way he flinched told Zoro he hadn't felt him coming, which, for the Prince of Observation Haki, was pretty serious.

"I'm fine. Chopper has other patients to tend."

Zoro sighed, tossing the little jar of ointment into the air and catching it again. "Yup. Which is why he sent me."

Cook turned to look at him for the first time. "Why?" He looked sullen and defiant and lovely. He was wearing one of the hospital's white shirts over a too-big pair of black pants and a couple of old slippers. The sea breeze had tussled his hair, and his blue eyes were clear under sharp brows. Zoro felt a little breathless.

Cook averted his eyes. "What are you staring at, idiot swordsman? Forgot what you were gonna say?"

Zoro shook his head. He was awkwardly aware that he had come here with his heart in his hands, and that it was entirely possible Cook would realise that before this conversation was over. Which might mean this was their last civil conversation. Zoro was, moreover, a novice in love, and quite frankly had no idea how one went about courting someone, especially when that someone was aggressively straight and rather unimpressed with you from the outset.

At the same time, it was not in Zoro's nature to back down because the odds were against him. Now that he knew how he felt, all he could do was forge ahead, and hope to do some good for Cook, who was so obviously still hurting.

He held up the jar. "I was told to soak you in cold water and then apply this."

Cook scoffed, turned back to the ocean and took a drag of his cigarette. "Go soak yourself."

"See, what I keep asking myself," Zoro continued as if he hadn't heard him. "Is exactly what injury you're supposed to be soaking. I've been going over our fight in my head, and I can't come up with anything that needs a cooling-cream."

Cook hunched up. "Fuck off, moss head."

The fingers holding the cigarette were wrapped in thin white bandages. A thicker bandage was wrapped around the other hand, similar to the one around his throat. All those injuries were on Zoro's head, and he needed to know what else he had done.

Cook blew smoke rings in a poor show of nonchalance. "I'm surprised Chopper let you out of bed. I seem to recall kicking your ass pretty thoroughly."

"Yeah, you did." The admission was surprisingly easy, and absolutely worth it when it caused Cook to look at him again in surprise. Zoro gave him a dangerous grin. "You've been holding back on me, Number Seven."

"Don't-!" Cook climbed to his feet so he could glare at him on eye level.

"Don't what?"

Cook grabbed the collar of Zoro's coat and growled at him. "I cheated! I fought dishonourably! I barely scratched you! Come on, say it!"

Zoro shrugged. He seemed to be pushing Cook's buttons, and though he was uncertain of how he was doing it, it might be fruitful to keep going. "Not gonna. I have a hole in my side and several busted ribs, and when the pills wear off I'll have a splitting headache too. I think you did good." Cook winced, eyes straying towards the bandages wrapped around Zoro's waist. "If it hadn't rained so hard, you would have won," Zoro finished casually.

"WON WHAT?" Cook's fist beat against his shoulder. "Stop praising me! Why now? You've never said a word like this to me before! Never! Why do you only see me now that I don't deserve it? I don't deserve-" He shoved Zoro away and turned his back, hands clenched at his sides.

For a moment Zoro didn't know how to react. He'd had no idea Cook felt like that. Had he been waiting for, hoping for, praise from Zoro? Why? If he wanted to be strong, he should stand up and prove it to himself, not wait for someone else to acknowledge him. But then ... Cook had proven himself many times. It hadn't crossed Zoro's mind that his nakama might have been waiting for him to say something.

"I see you now," he said eventually. "You proved your strength against me, but more importantly, your quick thinking saved Allie."

"No!" Cook put his hands over his ears. "Stop it!"

Zoro grabbed his wrist and pulled him around. "Whatever Gently made you do or did to you is in the past. He's gone. It's over."

"It's not over!"

"Why not?"

"Because it was my fault!" Cook tugged at his wrist, but Zoro refused to let go. "Will you just fuck off, you stupid-!"

"I'm not letting you run away again."

Cook cried out in frustration and lashed out with his knee. Zoro caught it on his elbow, and was surprised when Cook clenched his teeth in obvious pain.

"What's wrong with your leg?"

"Nothing," Cook said tightly.

So that was how it was going to be? Zoro struck like a viper, grabbing Cook by the back of his knee. Cook cried out in pain, dropping his cigarette and grabbing on to Zoro with both hands.

"Doesn't sound like nothing to me." He applied a little more pressure to the grip, making Cook's eyes bulge.

"Let go ... Zoro!"

"What caused this?" he asked ruthlessly. They'd tried silk gloves last night when he left them; it was time for a different approach.

Cook fought a moment longer, before gritting out, "My Diable Jambe ... I got ... burned."

Zoro let go. Cook swayed, breath hitching as he fought the pain. He was still holding on to Zoro.

"I thought you were past that," Zoro said quietly. "How did it happen?"

Cook sighed thickly, looking away. "It doesn't matter."

"It matters to me." Tentatively, awkward in inexperience and afraid of his welcome, Zoro placed a hand lightly on Cook's back, encouraging him to stay close.

Another shuddering breath, but at least those tired blue eyes met his at last. "I was fighting it," Cook confessed finally. "Jirou's command was to do whatever it took, to hold nothing back. When I tried to keep the Diable Jambe from spreading, it began to burn my skin. It's what happens with fire when you're not in control."

"Then you should have stopped fighting it," Zoro said unthinkingly. "Let the bastard's orders rule."

Cook glared at him. "What was I supposed to do, sit back and watch myself kill you?"

Zoro hesitated for a moment too long, reminding them both of the suicide mission that had allowed him to cut off the albatross mask at last.

"Why would you do something like that?" Cook whispered, almost to himself.

Zoro cleared his throat. "Cause getting a new cook would have been a pain in the ass."

But that was not the right thing to say, because it made Cook step away.

"I'm not coming back."

For a moment, Zoro was speechless. "What? Why the hell not?"

"Thank you for coming to find me," Cook said with devastating finality, sitting back down on the tip of the pier. He took the last drag of his cig before putting the stump out on the boards and throwing it away. "If you leave the jar, I can tend to myself." He glanced back when Zoro didn't reply, and added, "I'll see you again before you leave, don't worry."

The last line forced Zoro to imagine, just for a moment, sailing on into the New World without Cook in the kitchen. No more being kicked awake at lunch time, no more lazy goading when they wanted a good fight but didn't want to admit it. No more drying dishes in comfortable silence, rewarding themselves with a cup of sake and a glass of wine.

He imagined himself achieving his dream, and celebrating with a crew that did not include their curly-browed cook, and as a sense of hollowness and sharp sorrow stung him, Zoro realised that Cook was not the only one who had been waiting for a word of praise. Zoro would be the strongest in the world, for himself, for Kuina, and for his nakama, and that included stupid, infuriating Sanji. Zoro wanted Sanji to be proud of him. To rely on him.

He looked at that familiar back turned stubbornly away from him, and knew he would do whatever it took to bring him back home.

And the instrument of his plan lay half-submerged in the water, one black eye glaring at him. Zoro took a running start and leapt up onto the crooked deck of the Moon Citadel. He crossed the damp boards and climbed the railing until he was crouched on the figurehead.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing?" Cook was yelling at him from below.

This was going to be tricky, Zoro realised as he studied the way the bird's back and wings were fused with the ship. It was so massive. Perfect for Captain Gently's ego. Luckily, Zoro was big and strong. He drew his swords, placing Wado Ichimonji in his mouth.

"Zoro!" Cook jumped up on deck after him. "What are you doing, stupid swordsman?" He seemed disproportionally distressed, eyes wide and watchful. That meant Zoro was on to something.

So Zoro just grinned at him. Then he turned back to the matter at hand. An adapted Daibutsu Giri should work, or Karasuma Gari. He'd have to slash the wings and the back ... and not harm the tail ... it would require precision ... No problem.

"Zoro!"

He launched himself into the air, spinning and slashing once and twice at the albatross' wings, finally pointing all three swords down and descending on the bird's neck.

"NO, ZORO, DON'T HURT IT!"

He had only a moment to wonder at Cook's frantic tone before his swords sank into the edge between ship and figurehead like butter, the force of the thrust descending down the creature's back, freeing it. The ship bucked like a bull, suddenly much lighter, while slowly, the huge albatross fell forward and began to sink. Zoro sheathed his swords quickly and grabbed hold of the nearest wing, hauling the bird out of the water. He swung the figurehead around and laid it gently down on the deck.

Cook was breathing hard, eyes wide as he looked over the bird lying on its back on the slanted deck. Zoro came over to stand next to him. The albatross really was a masterpiece of craftsmanship; it almost looked real with every detail of each feather painstakingly carved and painted in vibrant gray and white, carefully maintained to look like it was new. The surface of the eyes were shiny; they almost seemed to have actual depth, which made the way the bird glared at them unsettlingly realistic.

"There it is," Zoro said. "Now you can say whatever you need to say to it."

"Stop it." Cook's head was bowed, his arms rigid at his sides. "This isn't funny."

"I'm not laughing." Zoro grabbed Cook's wrist and pulled him forward until he could place their joined hands on the albatross' cheek. "See. It's here to listen." And maybe he meant himself also; he had not forgotten that Gently had said Cook had a secret to tell Zoro.

For a moment, Cook didn't say anything, just breathed shallowly. Then he sat down on his knees, his hand trailing across the bird's white face.

Zoro knelt down next to him, patiently waiting.

And finally the story came, haltingly, in whispers.

"He wanted me to teach him how to fight like me. I knew it was wrong. I was just a student, they were the old man's techniques, not mine, not yet; I had no right to pass them on ... but Jirou ... was difficult to turn down. I didn't want to disappoint him; he was so unpleasant when he was angry, and when we argued about it, I could never make myself articulate the reasons why it wasn't a good idea ... So I gave in. We hid it from Chef Zeff, from everyone. For months I trained him, but he wasn't satisfied; he wanted something more advanced, a stronger attack. I ... gave in again ... and taught him the Mouton Shot. I was so angry with myself. I couldn't look the old geezer in the eyes anymore, knowing how I had betrayed him. And Jirou was growing ... restless ... moody ... until ... one evening ..." He looked up, out across the glittering water. "A bit like this one in fact ... We were up on the roof, supposed to be on watch, but just hanging out instead ... He was in a strange, giddy mood, while I was angry for some reason ... We fought. Of course I beat him. It made him angry. And then ..." He looked up at the albatross lying there motionlessly.

Zoro listened in silence.

"A flock of seagulls were flying around us, along with a single albatross. Jirou said he'd show me how he had mastered the Mouton Shot." He curled his fingers against the bird's cheek as if they pained him. "He jumped, and ... kicked the albatross down onto the roof. It landed with a horrible wet sound right in front of my feet, weakly beating its wings to fly away, but-" His voice failed him, breath hitching. "Jirou landed on its back!" He snatched his hand away from the figurehead and cradled it to his chest, bowing his head. "The bird screamed and choked as ... as ... as Jirou stomped on it. I remember yelling at him to stop, but I couldn't move, and it happened so fast ... I remember the sound as its wings broke, the way it coughed up blood, its eyes rolling back in its head." Wild tremors gripped his body. "Until Jirou finally kicked it in the head so hard that ... its skull cracked." He had to stop to breathe and calm himself down.

"The next thing I remember ... We were in the room behind the kitchen where we prepare the meat, and that ... thing was lying in the sink, head and wings twisted. There was blood and feathers everywhere, in the sink, on the floor, and all over me! I was ... I was plucking it. Jirou was talking, I don't remember ... But that thing's eyes were staring at me. Glittering like it was still alive, like it held me responsible-! And then-" his voice cracked again, taking on a note of hushed fearfulness. "Then Zeff was standing in the doorway, and I ... coward that I am ... I couldn't speak! And then Jirou stepped forward and began to explain ... he said ... he said I had done it. That I had worried about our meat supply." He stopped for a moment, swallowing like he was fighting not to gag.

Zoro could only imagine what was playing itself out before Sanji's inner eye.

"Zeff ... Zeff told us to clean up after ourselves ... and then he left! He looked at me like ... like ... I've never seen him so disappointed. Afterwards I yelled at Jirou. I asked him why he had blamed it on me. That's when Jirou laughed and said ... that if I thought Zeff was angry at me now, I could just imagine what he would have said if Jirou had told him how I had been teaching him the techniques that Zeff had entrusted to me." Sanji was still speaking to the boards under his knees. "I couldn't ... take it anymore, so ... in the morning I went to the old man and I ... lied to him. I told him Jirou was stealing from the customers. I wanted him to send Jirou away, but now ... now I know it never got that far because Jirou left first ... after ... after he ..."

Rica. Zoro's head was filled with a red haze. The idea of that monster having caused Cook so much pain was unbearable.

"She was wearing the necklace," Cook said quietly. He had sat up and was swaying a little, like he was tired. "Jirou must have seen it. He killed her because of the albatross, because he thought it was poetic, because he wanted to scare me more ... If I had been stronger ... If I hadn't been such a coward ... If I had seen him for the man he really was ... She wouldn't have died."

"Sanji."

Cook startled and looked at Zoro with wide eyes. He was terribly pale. Zoro took Sanji's head between his hands and looked into his eyes. "You are not responsible for Rica's death." His voice was rough with the rage he was feeling. "Jirou was a sick monster who took advantage of your kindness. He wanted you to blame yourself for his crimes, but you are not Rica's killer, you are the man who saved her son."

"Don't ... Don't touch me." Cook gripped his wrists and shoved him away. "Don't touch me!"

Zoro's heart skipped a beat painfully. Had he overstepped? All the rage he had felt watching Gently invading Cook's personal space, pushing him around, and now he was doing the same thing himself?

"You shouldn't touch me," Cook said.

What?

"We were ... more than just friends. That monster and I. So you shouldn't ..."

At first, all Zoro could do was stare at his nakama as their shared history rewrote itself backwards in his memories. Cook's worship of women. His rejection of anything that was not traditionally masculine or feminine. All to cover up this? No, it was not so easily explained, but that Jirou was part of it, that was for sure.

Cook glanced at him, and misinterpreted Zoro's expression. "I'm terrible, right? Disgusting." He tried to laugh at himself but it came out dry and hollow. "Still want me to come back to the crew?"

Zoro did the only thing he could do and punched Cook over the head. "Of course I want you to come back, shitty cook!" He hoped he hadn't gotten too red in the face; he had just realised this meant he might, just might, have as shot. It was kind of dizzying in the middle of all the horror.

Cook rubbed his head and looked at Zoro in confusion.

Zoro reached out and cupped his face again. "See? Nothing's happening." He ruffled Cook's hair. "Still nothing."

"Oi, don't mess up my hair, asshole!"

"But it's already a mess. Oh wow, touching you is so horrible." He pulled Cook close and let himself fall to the side, dragging the blonde boy with him. Cook fought back.

"Agh! You're so annoying, stupid Zoro!"

"Come back to the crew, dartboard face!" He snuggled his furiously wiggling nakama stubbornly. "Come back come back come back."

"You're such a dumbass!"

"You're a dumbass!"

Cook's face was as red as Zoro's own at this point, their hearts beating fast against each other. That was a strange and interesting reaction.

Then Cook accidentally leaned his weight on Zoro's injured side, and Zoro almost coughed up blood.

"Oh shit, I'm sorry!"

They were lying on deck half on top of each other, both breathing hard. Zoro waved a tired hand dismissively. "I'm okay. I'll survive."

He felt how Cook's weight sagged against him, and accepted it happily, once again placing a careful hand on his back to encourage him. He could feel Sanji's eyelashes brush against his chest when he blinked.

It would not be this simple of course. No magic words could spirit away the guilt and shame that Cook must be feeling, but having lanced the boil, they could begin the healing process, and Zoro intended to be there every step of the way.

And the first step came now. "Hey ..." Time to be brave. "I'd like to help you tend your legs. You need to rest your hands, and the cream would ruin the bandages."

Sanji lifted his head and looked at him with sleepy eyes. "Why? ... Why do you want to help, I mean."

Zoro sat the both up, but kept Sanji close. "I am responsible for the safety of my crew, and seeing as Luffy never actually dismissed you, that means you too, stupid cook."

"Shitty swordsman."

"I'll take that as a yes?" No protests were forthcoming, so he slipped an arm under Sanji's knees and lifted him up, carrying him away from the Moon Citadel. He jumped onboard the Sunny with an ease born of long practice, and the grass was soft under his feet after the bare planks of the other ship.

"Luffy forgot his laundry again," Cook said, pointing up, and right enough, even in the fading light those were unmistakably Luffy's shorts on the clothesline high above, swaying a little in the rising breeze.

They had challenged their enemies to life or death battle with their Captain's shorts flapping under the flag.

"Let's hope nobody noticed."

Zoro took them to the bath, shouldering his way through the door before setting Cook down on his feet. "Alright then." Suddenly a little nervous, he busied himself by putting his swords away against the wall next to the door, and plugging the bathtub. He turned on the water, using a little hot and a little cold to get a cool, but bearable temperature. When he turned back, Cook was standing there looking at him.

And Zoro was reminded that they were two boys of twenty-one, and that one was rather stupidly in love with the other. This was perhaps the most frightening thing Zoro had faced since he left the dojo to hunt his destiny. Death and pain he didn't fear, monsters and ghouls he could cut down. Even sex was a fairly simple thing in his world; he found it when he wanted it, and it was fun and pleasurable, and over in the morning.

But love ...

Cook tilted his head and looked at him, and even tired and sorrowful he was elegant in his way, and handsome ... but mostly just another boy of twenty-one.

"You'll have to get into the tub. If the burn is all the way up your thighs, I mean." Zoro hoped he didn't sound as awkward as he felt.

He expected protests. Instead, Cook gave a weird sort of shrug and reached for the button on his trousers. Zoro quickly went to fetch towels from the closet and to get one of the little green stools out and ready for after. When he turned around again, Cook was climbing in with his black boxers still on, hissing as he submerged first one leg and then the other.

"This is cold, moss head!" He stood in the tub with water to his knees and glared.

But Zoro was staring at Cook's legs. The skin was deep red and terribly sore-looking, some of it was swollen, and most of the hair had been singed off. It encompassed everything from his feet to the top of his thighs.

"Just get in," Zoro said. "We have to treat this properly."

"I will when you warm up the water, you sadistic bastard."

Zoro stuck his hand in the tub to feel the temperature. "It's not that bad."

"It is too. It hurts!"

"It's supposed to cool you down! You've been walking around on your burned feet all this time and _now_ you're gonna be a baby about it?"

Cook opened his mouth, shut it again, and eventually blurted out, "You are such a stubborn mule!"

"Just sit your butt down!" Zoro grabbed Cook's shoulders to push him down, Cook resisted, there was a brief scuffle, Zoro tripped over the edge of the bathtub, and so two short cries and a tumble later, there was water all over the floor and both boys were floating in the tub.

"You sure do know how to make a man's life difficult," Zoro complained, looking up at the ceiling. The water quickly saturated his clothes (and they had only just dried too), making him shiver.

"I told you it was cold," Cook muttered from beside him.

 

~~~~~~  
  

Yes, this had definitely been a mistake, Sanji thought to himself as he dried his hair. From under the towel he snuck glances at Zoro, who was absorbed by the act of drying Sanji's legs.

He had begun to suspect his mistake when Zoro had left the tub and begun taking his wet clothes off. The coat, haramaki, boots. Sanji wasn't sure if he was disappointed or relieved that Zoro had left his trousers on. They were wet and heavy and hanging low on his hips. Sanji had been glad of the cold water. Despite the many bruises covering Zoro's back and torso, he looked as strong and striking as ever.

Zoro had pulled up one of the little green stools for Sanji to sit on, and then he had knelt between Sanji's legs. Sanji had experienced a sudden rush of blood south, and been glad he was sitting down. Luckily, he was too tired and nervous for it to become a visible problem. Except now Zoro was being gentle with him; the towel barely whispered against his sore legs. Sanji wasn't sure he would get out of this with his sanity. Or dignity.

"You know, since my bandages are soaked anyway, I could do this myself," he said as Zoro put the towel away and picked up the jar of cooling-cream.

Zoro hesitated. "Of course," he said. "But I don't mind doing it." He seemed to have trouble looking Sanji in the eye suddenly. "I ... I hurt your hands."

Sanji flexed his fingers and felt how the cuts stung. "I hurt them myself," he corrected Zoro. "You don't get to take the blame for that."

Zoro smiled, but it was a pale thing, quickly gone. "Can't help it. I was supposed to save you, from yourself if I had to. So this ..." he gestured with the jar. "Would be a way for me to atone. A beginning at least."

Annoyed, Sanji grabbed a fistful of Zoro's wet hair and made him look up. "I don't want you in my debt, Roronoa Zoro, it would be a pain. You're a man who lives his life without regrets. Don't make me your first one."

That got him a genuine smile at last.

"Damn." Zoro thumbed his nose. "Alright, fine." He looked at the jar. "I'd still like to help, though, if you'll let me."

Sanji drew a deep breath. "Okay." It was fine. He could handle this. It would probably just hurt anyway.

Zoro unscrewed the lid on the jar and put it down, scooting back so he could take Sanji's left foot onto his lap. He scooped up a dollop of cream and spread it between his hands before gently smoothing it out over Sanji's calf.

Sanji drew a quick breath and held on to the edges of the stool. It stung, but it was soothing too, and Zoro's hands were patient and steady. He worked his way down from the calf to Sanji's foot, increasing the pressure to avoid tickling the soles.

"So!" Sanji said when the silence became too awkward for him. "You said my name earlier. There's something I haven't heard before." It had startled him badly, that deep voice speaking his name like it was full of meaning. He wanted to hear it again.

Zoro shook his head. "I was too late the first time." He seemed suddenly to realise what he had said, and froze, grimacing to himself.

"When was the first time?" Sanji asked breathlessly, heart fluttering in his chest.

Zoro ducked his head and continued to work the cream in between Sanji's toes. "When you left last night. But you were almost up the hill." His ears were turning red.

"You called after me?" Sanji bit his lip to stop himself from smiling like an idiot.

Zoro put the first foot down and picked up the other one. "I was hungry."

Sanji kicked him lightly in the shoulder. "Admit it, moss, you missed me." He meant it as a joke, and so Zoro's solemn nod almost unmanned him.

"You know we won't sail without you, right?" Zoro asked, lifting Sanji's foot to treat his heel and ankle.

Sanji looked away. "I ..."

Zoro smoothed the cream up Sanji's right calf before putting that foot down and scooting closer, forcing Sanji to spread his legs to accommodate him. Despite the way his skin was stinging, Sanji got hot in the pit of his stomach. He rubbed the back of his hand over his mouth to hide his face. What was with this atmosphere? Zoro had never shown him this much care and attention before.

Then Zoro stroked his fingers up behind Sanji's knee, and Sanji jerked. "Ah! Tickles!"

Zoro's little grin was both endearing and infuriating. "Sorry."

The skin was more inflamed here at the joint, so Zoro paid extra attention to it. Sanji fought not to shiver whenever the swordsman's hands strayed higher. Unfortunately, the burn extended all the way up his thighs. There was only a thin strip of healthy skin just under the hem of his boxer's leg.

And then Zoro made it worse.

"There's one thing I still can't figure out."

"Oh?" Sanji asked, not trusting himself to speak in longer sentences anymore.

Zoro moved over to the other knee, which brought on fresh pain and fresh pleasure. "Why did you leave us?"

Damn. Sanji bowed his head. "Does it matter now? You were the one who said it's over."

"But it's not. Unless you've decided to return to us." He gave Sanji a challenging look.

Sanji didn't reply.

"So," Zoro continued, getting some more cream. "Gently obviously wasn't looking for the All Blue, that was a lie. You acting like a selfish asshole, that was also a lie, but you're a martyr by nature, so we figured that out pretty fast. All that remains is the real reason you left."

Sanji wondered dizzily what would happen if he just confessed it all. Maybe Zoro would even forgive him. He had to say something anyway. "... Jirou said ... he would destroy the Straw Hats if I didn't leave."

Zoro scoffed. "How the hell did he plan to do that?"

Hurt by the dismissal, Sanji crossed his arms over his chest and looked away. "He had a plan, but that danger is past."

He yelped in surprise when Zoro ran both slick hands up Sanji's right thigh. "Zoro!"

"What? Tickles?" Zoro's hands were careful as ever, but his eye was on Sanji's face.

Sanji felt himself going hot. The touch sent electric sparks of pain and pleasure straight to his groin. "Zoro." Didn't he know what he was doing to Sanji? Please, let him not realise.

"Did he have some super-strong nakama? Someone with a special ability we couldn't fight?" Zoro asked calmly, fingers slipping over Sanji's sensitive inner thigh.

Sanji grabbed onto Zoro's shoulders, clenching his teeth against the sweet touches. "Nothing like that! You'd have met them already."

"Then what was it?"

He drew his palms all the way down Sanji's right leg, finishing at his ankle, and then moved to the other leg and Sanji wasn't sure he could handle this.

"It was me, alright! Can't you leave it alone?"

More cream, cool and slick, and those strong hands so gentle on Sanji's left thigh, smoothing it over the skin. Sanji's breath hitched.

"You? How would he use you to destroy us? Other than by making you leave us, I mean."

Sanji looked helplessly into Zoro's eye, knowing that at this point he had to look a proper mess, mouth hanging open and cheeks deep red, pulse pounding hard in his throat.

"You," he said, gripping Zoro's shoulders harder. "Through you." He couldn't collect his scattered thoughts long enough to form any more lies.

Zoro scooted a little closer, so he was sitting close, close against Sanji's body and looking up at him. He moved his hands slowly, deliberately, to Sanji's waist and left them there, just holding, and even that simple touch felt so good.

"Now you're not making any sense, curly-brows," he chided, but his voice was deeper than usual, and hot.

"What are you doing, moss?" Sanji asked. He felt like he was falling.

A flash of insecurity crossed Zoro's face. "I'll stop if you say the word," he said. He hesitated a moment, before pulling his hands back.

"No!" Sanji pulled him closer, surprised at his own daring. But looking at Zoro he saw that he was blushing too, and he could feel Zoro's heart beating hard and fast against his sternum. Oh. "Don't stop."

Zoro moved his hands slowly up to cup Sanji's face again. "Why did you leave us, Sanji?"

Sanji was trembling. "Because you ... you're so ..." No. No! He had admitted the truth to strangers, to enemies, to Allie. Over and over. He refused to be a coward any longer. Let the man who deserved them hear the words at last. He wrapped his arms around Zoro's neck. "Because I love you."

"Then come back to us," Zoro said, pulling Sanji down towards him. "Because I love you too."

They breathed against each other's mouths for a moment.

"Is this really happening?" Sanji asked, his lips brushing Zoro's lips.

"I can pinch you if you'd like," Zoro offered.

Sanji laughed and closed the last space between them. Zoro's lips were cool, but his mouth was hot, and tasted like nothing else Sanji had ever known.

 

~~~~~~  
  

The next day was spent repairing the town square under Franky's direction, but there were so many eager hands available that it was quickly done, and in the evening, Luffy got his banquet.

The square was lit up brighter than ever by lamps of every kind, and the stalls had been taken down in favour of a huge outdoor kitchen, where Sanji spent the majority of the night cooking every delicacy he knew, to the delight of the hundreds of hungry locals, tourists, former pirates and current pirates. With his hands still in bandages, he was unfortunately obliged to leave many of the simpler tasks to the many cooks that had volunteered their services, but Zoro thought he definitely seemed to enjoy ordering them around.

Brook had showed up that morning to spirit away Allie and all the town's musicians, along with the Moon Citadel's orchestra, and now they were putting on a concert the likes of which Arashi Island had never experienced. Soul King was in his element, and he and Allie sang themselves hoarse.

Robin and Franky had been dancing to the music at first, but had now mysteriously disappeared somewhere.

Chopper, Luffy and Usopp were in the thick of the crowd, laughing and fooling around, happy as they could be.

Corin, Nami, Zoro and Mara were sitting in the kitchen area, sipping their beverage of choice and watching Sanji in the kitchen. Sanji, who couldn't seem to stop smiling, though Zoro saw that it was sometimes tremulous.

Zoro's concerns about how the townsfolk would treat the former Gently Pirates had been unfounded; they had been nothing but kind to them. So kind, in fact, that Furia and Baba had had no trouble slipping out of the hospital and away into the night. Furia had been less seriously injured by Usopp's flare than it first appeared, for she had evidently walked out on her own two feet. Dorian the cat had gone with them. Despite their cruelty, Zoro almost wished them luck out there on the wild seas in the little ship they had stolen. Even two navigators would have their hands full surviving the waters of the New World.

Dr Bradshaw had not regained consciousness yet, but Chopper was confident he would make it through, even if he would never regain his full vigour after the physical and psychological trauma Gently had put him through.

Only one thing remained now, as far as Zoro was concerned. One unfinished piece of business. He waited until there was a lull in the line of hungry people, toasted one last time with Mara, put his cup down and went to fetch his cook.

"Come with me," he whispered in his ear, just for the pleasure of watching him blush. Taking Sanji's hand, Zoro pulled him away from the party down towards the water.

They walked down the pier in silence. The Sunny was still anchored here, but the Moon Citadel had floated with the tide until lay half-submerged some distance out on the water. The albatross still lay on its back on the foredeck. Above, the sky was clear and full of stars, but the many lights of the Moon Citadel were extinguished now, leaving it in the dark.

"Stay here. I'll be right back," Zoro said, leaving Sanji on the end of the pier while he made a quick trip onto the Sunny. When he returned, he had a ready torch in his hand.

"Do you have your lighter on you?"

Sanji looked from the torch to Zoro, and then out to the Moon Citadel. "Oh." He fumbled through his pockets, found the lighter and held up it. Together, they lit the torch.

Zoro held it out to Sanji. "You do it."

"It won't catch," Sanji protested.

"It will," Zoro said simply.

Sanji looked at him in surprise. Slowly, he took the torch and turned to look out across the water. Zoro stood silently beside him.

"I'm sorry," Sanji said, addressing the albatross. "I am sorry for what you suffered. You were innocent, you had your life ahead of you ... You did not deserve your fate, and I am sorry I failed to save you." He hefted the torch, exhaling shakily. "But you can rest now. It's over." He hesitated. "Your son will grow up a good man."

The torch sailed in a long arc and landed on deck, igniting the oil that Zoro had prepared earlier that day. Soon the Moon Citadel, pyre of the albatross, was blazing in orange and gold on the dark blue water, under the stars.

Sanji and Zoro watched it burn for a while. Zoro reached out and threaded his fingers with Sanji's.

"Thank you," Sanji mumbled, squeezing Zoro's hand.

"Come on, Cook," Zoro said. "Let's go join our nakama. I was thinking you could teach me how to dance."

Together, they walked back to shore.


End file.
